--- # See if AI recommends your business, and whether what it says is true. > AI visibility audit: see if 10 AI models recommend your business, whether what they say is true, and the exact fixes. $99 once, no subscriptions. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ **AI visibility audit** for businesses 10 leading AI models, every claim checked against your website, and the exact fixes. Free check in a minute or two. Full report $99, no subscriptions. See an example report[Get the full report $99](https://www.preferly.ai/start?plan=full) ## Checked across 10 leading AI models in every full report. - ChatGPT OpenAI - Gemini Google - Claude Opus Anthropic - Grok xAI - Meta Muse Spark Meta - DeepSeek DeepSeek - Qwen Alibaba - Kimi Moonshot AI - NVIDIA Nemotron NVIDIA - GLM Z.ai In every full report $99Paid once - **10** AI models searched - **5+** questions asked of each - **50+** AI answers read for you - **10+** AI crawlers checked - **Your competitors, ranked** Every company AI names, and where you place. - **Where AI contradicts your website** Each model quoted beside the line on your site. - **Your score out of 100** Visibility, Accuracy, Sources and Access. - **A complete AI Fix Pack** Every fix in order, with paste-ready JSON-LD, FAQs and llms.txt. **One free re-scan within 30 days.** If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days for a full refund. ## The questions business owners are asking themselves right now **45%** of US consumers asked AI for local business recommendations in the past year. **Find out what AI says about you.** Source: [BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/) - ### Why does ChatGPT keep recommending my competitor instead of me? **The report:** Every company the 10 models name, ranked, and where you place. - ### When someone asks AI for a business like mine, do I even come up? **The report:** 5+ questions a new customer would ask, put to 10 models. You see which of the 50+ answers name you. - ### Is AI accurately describing my business? **The report:** Each place AI contradicts your website, quoted beside the line on your site. - ### I rank fine on Google. Why doesn’t that carry over? **The report:** AI tools read other pages. You see which ones they cite, and how often they cite yours. - ### Does my website work with the latest AI agents and tools? **The report:** We check 10+ AI crawlers, and whether your pages load and your key facts can be read. - ### What should I fix, and do I need an agency for it? **The report:** An AI Fix Pack with every fix in order and paste-ready code. Paid once, no retainer. ## Want a free preview? See what 3 AI models say The free preview shows where you stand. **The full report shows who AI picks instead of you, and how to fix it.** | What you get | Free preview | Full report · $99 | | --- | --- | --- | | AI models | 3 models 15 answers | 10 leading AI models 5+ questions each, 50+ answers | | Score out of 100 | Included | Included from all 10 models | | Competitors | Count only | Ranked, with where you place | | AI contradicts your website | Up to 2 | Every one, quoted | | AI crawler access | Open / blocked | 10+ AI crawlers checked | | What to fix | Top fix only | AI Fix Pack, paste-ready code | | PDF and re-scan | Not included | PDF + 1 free re-scan | - One payment - No subscription, no sales call - Ready in about 5 minutes ### Start your free check Your business name and website, in the form at the top of this page. Go to the free check Free. No email needed. Results in a minute or two. ## What the full report shows you - ### See who AI recommends instead of you Every competitor the models name, by name, and how many of the 10 picked them. - ### Catch where AI contradicts your website What each model said about you, quoted beside the line on your site that disagrees. - ### Know whether AI crawlers and agents can reach you We test whether AI crawlers are let in, whether your pages load and your key facts can be read, and whether an AI agent could use your forms and links. - ### Get a fix plan with ready-to-paste code Every fix in priority order, with the steps, the points it can win and code you can paste. ## Watch a check run This is what you see while a check runs: each AI model gets each question, and the board fills in as the answers come back. The full report: 10 leading AI models, every competitor ranked, and an AI Fix Pack with paste-ready code. [Run the free check](https://www.preferly.ai/#check) ## See a full report before you buy A full report for a fictional skincare brand business, based on a real run with the names and some results changed. Every section is there: the competitors by name, the contradictions, AI access, every answer and the fix plan. 1. ### AI names you in 6 of 41 answers **6 of 41** answers to questions a new customer would ask mentioned Lumen & Lark; 5 put you in the top three. 2. ### 3 competitors get named instead Mildwell appears in **8** answers; Quiet Fern and Plainspoken in **7** each. 3. ### AI contradicts your website **3** things AI said about Lumen & Lark contradict what your own website says. ## How it works, in three steps You give us your business name. We do the rest. 1. ### We find your business From the name, and your website if you give it, we confirm your site and work out what customers come to you for. 2. ### We ask AI what your customers ask The free check asks 3 AI models and the full report asks 10 leading AI models, all with web search on. Most questions don’t mention you by name, the way a new customer would ask. 3. ### We read every answer and write the plan We count who was recommended, check what AI said about you against your website, test whether AI tools can reach your site, and put the fixes in order. ## What do popular AI agents say? As personal AI agents become more popular, they recommend businesses and products more often. So it matters how your business shows up when someone asks one. Where an agent runs on one of the 10 AI models in the full report, you see that model's answers. Results from the other agents are coming soon. | Agent | How we ask it | Status | | --- | --- | --- | | xAI Grok Bot | **Via the Grok model behind it.** We use the answers from the model that powers it. | Available | | Meta Muse | **Via the Meta Muse Spark model behind it.** We use the answers from the model that powers it. | Available | | OpenAI dots | **Via the GPT model behind it.** We use the answers from the model that powers it. | Available | | Instinct | **Coming soon.** Results from this agent are coming soon. | Coming soon | | Hark | **Coming soon.** Results from this agent are coming soon. | Coming soon | ## Common questions The short answers. The full detail is on the methodology page. ### Can I see a full report before I pay? Yes. The example report is a full report based on a real run, with the business and every competitor renamed and some results changed. Yours has the same sections, built from your own answers. ### What if the report isn’t useful? If your report finds no fixes, [email us](mailto:hello@preferly.ai) within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. ### Is there a free trial? There’s no trial of the full report, because the free check is free. It asks 3 AI models 5 customer questions and shows your score, how often AI names you, how many competitors it names instead and your top fix, in a minute or two. The full report is $99, paid once. ### Is Preferly a subscription? No. You pay $99 once for the full report. Nothing renews. The report includes one free re-scan within 30 days, so you can see what changed after you make your fixes. See pricing. ### Does Preferly check Google AI Overviews or Perplexity? Not yet. Today we ask 10 AI models through their APIs: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude Opus, Grok, Meta Muse Spark, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, NVIDIA Nemotron and GLM. Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot aren’t covered yet. Some AI agents are covered through the models behind them; see the AI agents. The methodology lists exactly who we ask. ### Is this the same as asking the ChatGPT app? Close, but not identical. We ask each model through its API with web search on and a neutral instruction. The apps add their own instructions, personalization and memory, so a signed-in user may see a somewhat different answer. Each question is asked once per model, and answers vary from run to run, so treat a result as a snapshot. Every result shows its date and the exact questions. ### How is the score worked out? Four parts, 100 points in all. - **Visibility (40):** how often AI recommends you when the question doesn’t name you, weighted by rank. - **Accuracy (25):** the share of checkable things AI said about you that match your website. - **Sources (15):** how often AI cites your own site or profiles. - **Access (20):** whether AI tools are allowed in, can load your site, and can read your key facts. ### Why would AI contradict my website? AI answers mix what a model learned in training with what its web search found: old directory listings, review sites, articles, sometimes an old version of your own site. We only flag a contradiction when we can quote the part of your site that disagrees, so you can see which source needs updating. ### Do you store my data? We keep a record of each check, with its answers and result, and the email address if you gave us one, so we can run the service, fix problems and send you your report. We don’t sell it or send marketing without asking. To run the check we send your business name and website to the AI models we use, and we read public pages of your site. ### Do you pretend to be another company’s bot? No. Our crawler says it is Preferly, never gets around bot protection, and never submits a form. If your site blocks automated visitors, we report that instead of working around it. More guides: - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Free tools for AI search - All guides ## See what AI says about you, and what to change. Free check in a minute or two. Full report $99 once, ready in minutes. No subscription, no sales call. Or see an example report --- # Pricing > Preferly pricing. The free check covers 3 AI models. The full report covers 10 AI models for $99, paid once, with no subscription and no trial needed. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/pricing Two options. Start free. Pay $99 once if you want the full report: 10 AI models, no sales call, ready in minutes, not days. There’s no subscription. ## Full report **$99** one time No subscription · No sales call · Ready in about 5 minutes - 10 leading AI models: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude Opus, Grok, Meta Muse Spark, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, NVIDIA Nemotron and GLM - 5+ customer questions, asked with web search on - Every competitor AI recommends instead of you, by name, with the sites AI cited when it named them - Every claim AI made about you, checked against your website, with the evidence - Which AI crawlers your site lets in, and whether they can load and read it - A test agent in a real browser tries to reach your booking or contact page, as an AI agent acting for a customer would (it never fills in or submits anything) - Every fix in priority order, with steps and ready-to-paste code, plus an AI Fix Pack to paste into your own AI assistant - Ready in about 5 minutes: on screen, by email and as a PDF - One free re-scan within 30 days, with a before-and-after view AI agents: Grok Bot, Meta Muse and OpenAI dots are covered through the models behind them, which are among the 10 above. Hark is coming soon. ## Free check **$0** - 3 AI models, 5 customer questions - On screen in about a minute - Your score out of 100, with its four parts - How often AI names you, and how many competitors it names instead - Up to 2 places where AI contradicts your website - Whether AI tools can reach your site, and your top fix - No email needed: the result shows on screen. Add your email if you want a copy. One free check per website every 30 days. | What you get | Free check | Full report | | --- | --- | --- | | Price | $0 (USD) | $99 one time (USD) | | AI models | 3 | 10 | | Customer questions | 5 | 5+ | | Email needed | No | Yes, for your receipt and report | | Where you get it | On screen | On screen, by email and as a PDF, in about 5 minutes | | Free re-scan | No | One, within 30 days | | Subscription | None | None. You pay once. | ## No subscription, no trial You pay once for the full report. Nothing renews and nothing is charged later. There’s no free trial of the full report because the free check is free: it runs the same kind of questions on 3 models, so you can see what you’d get before you pay. ## One report, or a monitoring tool? A monitoring tool asks AI your questions every day or week and charges monthly. It suits a marketing team that will check a dashboard and act on changes all year. A Preferly report asks 10 AI models once, shows you what they say, and tells you what to fix. It suits a business owner who wants a clear answer and a fix list, not another subscription. Make your changes, then use the free re-scan to see what moved. If you later want ongoing tracking, a monitoring tool is the next step. Start with the report so you know what to track. ## What the report doesn’t cover yet We ask AI models through their APIs. Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot aren’t checked yet. AI agents: Grok Bot, Meta Muse and OpenAI dots are covered through the models behind them, and Hark is coming soon. The methodology explains how we ask. ## Questions about paying **Do I need to talk to anyone to buy?** No. You pay online and the report starts right away. There’s no demo or sales call. **How long does the full report take?** About 5 minutes. We email you the link when it’s ready, and you can leave the page. **How do I pay?** By card through Stripe at checkout. We never see your card number. Who we are and how we handle your data: Is Preferly legit? **Do you offer discounts?** Visitors who arrive through a creator’s link get 20% off. Become a creator. **Can I get a refund?** If your report finds no fixes, [email us](mailto:hello@preferly.ai) within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. --- # About Preferly > Preferly is an AI visibility audit for businesses, run by Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC in Puerto Rico. Here's what we do, how we work and how to reach us. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/about Preferly is an AI visibility audit. We show a business what the leading AI models tell customers about it, and what to fix. ## What we do More customers now ask an AI assistant who to choose. They get a short answer with a few names. Preferly asks 10 leading AI models the questions a new customer would ask, with web search on, and reports what comes back: whether AI names you, who it recommends instead, where AI contradicts your website, and whether AI crawlers can reach your site. Then we give you every fix in priority order. ## How we work - We ask each model through its API, with the same neutral instruction, and show every answer in full. - We only say AI contradicts your website when we can quote the line on your site that disagrees. - Our crawler, PreferlyBot, says who it is, follows robots.txt, signs its requests and never submits a form. How PreferlyBot behaves. - A result is a dated snapshot. Every report shows its date and the exact questions. Methodology. ## Who runs Preferly Preferly is a product of Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC, a company in Puerto Rico. Checking us out before you pay? See Is Preferly legit? and What Preferly is not. ## Contact Questions about a check, a report, a payment or a refund: Contact. --- # What Preferly is not > Preferly is a one-time AI visibility audit. It isn't a subscription, an agency, a rank tracker or a way to pay AI to recommend you. Here's the full list. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/what-preferly-is-not Last updated: 2026-10-28 Preferly is a one-time AI visibility audit. You get a free check of 3 AI models, or a $99 report that asks 10 leading AI models the questions your customers ask, shows where AI contradicts your website, and gives you the fixes. It’s not a subscription, an agency or a promise that AI will recommend you. Updated October 28, 2026 ## What Preferly is A report you buy once. It asks 10 leading AI models the questions a new customer would ask, with web search on, and shows every answer in full. It tells you whether AI names your business, who it names instead, where it contradicts your website (quoted beside the line on your site that disagrees), and whether AI crawlers can reach your site. Then it lists the fixes in priority order, with paste-ready code. Want to see it first? Run the free check. Who runs it and how we work: About Preferly. ## What Preferly is not **Not a subscription.** The report is $99, paid once. There’s no monthly plan and nothing renews. The price includes one free re-scan within 30 days, so you can compare before and after. **Not a sales process.** There’s no demo to book and no call. You start the free check or buy the report on the website. The report is usually ready in about 5 minutes. **Not an agency or a done-for-you service.** Preferly doesn’t log in to your website or change anything on it. You, or whoever runs your site, apply the fixes. Every fix comes with the exact text or code to paste. **Not a monitoring tool.** A report is a dated snapshot of what AI said on one day. It doesn’t track your visibility every week. **Not a promise that AI will recommend you.** No one can promise that. AI answers change from day to day and from person to person. Preferly shows what AI says now and what on your site and listings may be holding you back. **Not a way to pay AI to list you.** Preferly has no deal with any AI company and can’t place your business in an answer. **Not an SEO rank tracker.** Preferly doesn’t report your Google ranking or keyword positions. It looks at what AI models say when customers ask them. **Not a review service.** Preferly doesn’t write, buy or ask for reviews for you. **Not a crawler that runs on its own.** PreferlyBot, our crawler, visits your site when someone requests a check of it. It says who it is, follows robots.txt and never submits a form. **Not a reseller of your data.** We don’t sell your personal data, and we don’t send your email address to OpenRouter or any AI model provider. ## If the report finds nothing to fix If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. ## Questions ### Is Preferly free? The check of 3 AI models is free (one per website every 30 days). The full report is $99, paid once. ### Who runs Preferly? Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC, a company in Puerto Rico. ### How do I reach you? Email hello@preferly.ai or use the contact page. ## Related - Is Preferly legit? - How Preferly checks AI answers - See an example report - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Is Preferly legit? > Who runs Preferly, how payment and refunds work, what data we keep, and how to see an example report before you pay. Everything here you can check yourself. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/is-preferly-legit Last updated: 2026-10-28 Preferly is run by Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC, a company in Puerto Rico. Payment goes through Stripe, so we never see your card. You can run a free check and read an example report before paying, and if your $99 report finds no fixes, you get a full refund. Here’s how to check each of those yourself. Updated October 28, 2026 ## Who runs it Preferly is a product of Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC, a company in Puerto Rico. You can reach us at hello@preferly.ai or through the contact page. Our About Preferly page says how a check works and what our crawler does. ## How you can check the product before paying - **Run the free check.** The free check asks 3 AI models about your business. No email needed; one free check per website every 30 days. - **Read the example report.** The example report shows what the $99 report includes, section by section. - **Read how it works.** The methodology page lists the questions, the models and how results are scored. Every report shows its date and the exact questions asked. - **Check the claims in your own report.** When the report says AI contradicts your website, it quotes the line on your site beside it, so you can verify each one in a minute. ## Payment and refunds - **Stripe handles payment.** You pay on Stripe’s checkout page. We get back the order status and amount, never your card number. - **$99, once.** No subscription, nothing renews. - **Refund if it finds nothing:** If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. - **Refund if it fails:** if the report can’t be produced because too many AI models stay unavailable, the refund is automatic. - Other refund requests are handled case by case at hello@preferly.ai. ## What we do with your data - We don’t sell your personal data. The only data an ad company gets is what Meta’s pixel collects on our public pages (see our privacy policy). - We don’t send your email address to the AI model providers. - We delete data on a schedule: free check results after 24 months unless you bought a report, free AI crawler checks after 7 days, payment records after 7 years for tax. The full table is in the privacy policy. ## What we don’t claim - We don’t promise AI will recommend you. No one can. - We don’t check every AI. The report covers 10 AI models; Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot aren’t checked yet. - A report is a snapshot of one day. AI answers change. ## Our crawler PreferlyBot says who it is in every request, follows robots.txt, signs its requests and never submits a form. It’s described on the PreferlyBot page, with how to block it. ## Questions ### Why haven’t I heard of Preferly? Preferly is new: it launched in 2026. That’s why everything on this page is something you can check yourself rather than a review count. ### Do you have a phone number? Support is by email at hello@preferly.ai. ### Can I talk to someone before buying? Email us. There’s no sales call; the free check and the example report are meant to answer most questions first. ## Related - What Preferly is not - How Preferly checks AI answers - See an example report - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How we check what AI says about you, and where it falls short. > How Preferly asks AI models about a business, checks what they say, and calculates the 0–100 score. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/methodology The plain-language version of exactly what we do, how the score works, and what it can’t tell you. ## The questions We ask the questions your customers ask, most of them without naming you. We first confirm your business: its website (we check that your name appears on the homepage), category, and what customers come to you for. Then we write customer-style questions of four kinds: - **Category**: “best [your category] [in your city]” and natural variants. Doesn’t name you. - **Problem**: a need your category solves, phrased without the category name. Doesn’t name you. - **Brand**: questions about you by name, such as “Is [you] any good?” or what you charge. - **Head-to-head** (full report only): you versus the competitor AI recommended most. The free check asks 2 category, 2 problem and 1 brand question. The full report asks 3 category, 2 problem, 2 brand and 1 head-to-head. For local businesses every unbranded question includes your location. Questions that are meant not to name you are checked to make sure they don’t, and every result lists the questions we asked. ## Models and search Every question goes to every model, once, with web search on and the same neutral instruction. The instruction is `“You are a helpful assistant. Answer the user's question. Cite sources.”` We call models through OpenRouter. Some providers run their own web search; the rest run their own searches through a shared search engine. We record which mode each answer used. | Model | Model ID | Search | Used in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | ChatGPT | openai/gpt-6-luna | Provider's own web search | Free check | | Gemini Flash | google/gemini-3.8-flash | Provider's own web search | Free check | | Claude Sonnet | anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5 | Provider's own web search | Free check | | ChatGPT | openai/gpt-6.1-sol | Provider's own web search | Full report | | Gemini | google/gemini-4-argon | Provider's own web search | Full report | | Claude Opus | anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 | Provider's own web search | Full report | | Grok | x-ai/grok-4.7 | Provider's own web search | Full report | | Meta Muse Spark | meta/muse-spark-1.3 | Provider's own web search | Full report | | DeepSeek | deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash | Own searches, shared search engine (OpenRouter tool) | Full report | | Qwen | qwen/qwen3.8-max-0902 | Own searches, shared search engine (OpenRouter tool) | Full report | | Kimi | moonshotai/kimi-k3 | Own searches, shared search engine (OpenRouter tool) | Full report | | NVIDIA Nemotron | nvidia/nemotron-3.5-super-vl | Own searches, shared search engine (OpenRouter tool) | Full report | | GLM | z-ai/glm-5.3-flash | Own searches, shared search engine (OpenRouter tool) | Full report | AI agents in the full report are covered as follows, and always shown with these labels: xAI Grok Bot (Via the Grok model behind it); Meta Muse (Via the Meta Muse Spark model behind it); OpenAI dots (Via the GPT model behind it); Hark (Coming soon). Hark results are coming soon. Agent answers never change the score. ## The score, 0 to 100 Four parts. Each is shown with its points and a one-line reason. The total is the sum, rounded. ### Visibility: 40 points For each answer to a question that doesn’t name you, we give credit based on how you appear: recommended in the top 3 **1.0**; recommended lower down **0.6**; mentioned but not recommended **0.3**; absent or warned against **0**. Visibility = 40 × the average credit. “N competitors were recommended instead of you” counts businesses recommended in **at least two** answers with a higher average credit than yours. One-off mentions in long lists don’t count. ### Accuracy: 25 points Accuracy = 25 × correct ÷ (correct + contradicted + outdated), over the factual claims AI made about you. Claims we can’t verify from your site are left out. With fewer than 3 checkable claims we give a neutral 12.5 and say that AI said too little about you to judge. ### Sources: 15 points Among answers to unbranded questions that cite sources, the share that cite one of yours: your website, your Google profile, or your own profile on a known directory. Sources = 15 × that share. If no answer cites anything, a neutral 7.5. ### Agent access: 20 points | Check | Points | | --- | --- | | robots.txt allows the major AI crawlers (pro-rated per crawler) | 6 | | Our fetch gets your homepage (HTTP 200) with no bot challenge | 6 | | Key facts (name, contact or location, offerings) readable without JavaScript | 4 | | Valid structured data (schema.org JSON-LD) | 4 | The free score uses the 3 free models; the full report’s score uses all 10. Score version: `score_v1`. ## Fact check We only say AI contradicts your website when we can quote the part of your site that disagrees. We collect the factual statements each answer makes about you (hours, prices, location, services, contact details, and so on) and check them against your homepage plus up to 6 of your own pages (about, contact, pricing, services and similar), fetched without JavaScript, and your Google Business Profile when we have one. A claim is marked **contradicted** or **outdated** only with a quote from your site. Without a quote it is “unverifiable” and doesn’t count against you. When AI contradicts your website, either the answer relied on an old or third-party source, or your page is out of date; both are worth fixing. The free check shows up to two contradictions, the most important first (hours, prices, location, services). ## Access check Can AI tools reach your site and read the facts that matter? - **robots.txt**: we evaluate your rules for each AI crawler token: GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, Claude-User, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User, Google-Extended, Applebot-Extended, Meta-ExternalAgent, Meta-ExternalFetcher, Meta-WebIndexer, HarkBot. How to let them in: How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - **Fetch**: we request your homepage as ourselves (`PreferlyBot/1.0 (+https://preferly.ai/bot)`) and record the status, redirects and any bot challenge (for example Cloudflare, Akamai, DataDome or PerimeterX). - **Readability**: are your name, contact or location, and offerings present in the HTML before JavaScript runs? Many AI crawlers don’t run JavaScript. - **Structured data**: is there valid JSON-LD describing your organization, business, products or services? ## Limitations A result is a dated snapshot of what AI said, not a promise of what it will say next. - Answers come from model APIs with web search. They approximate, but aren’t identical to, the consumer apps, which add their own instructions, personalization and memory. - Each question is asked once per model: a single run. AI answers vary from run to run. - We read answers and match business names automatically. Unusual names or near-duplicates can be miscounted. - The fact check only knows what your website and Google profile say. If both are out of date, we can’t tell. - We can’t see what an agent does when it browses as a signed-in user, so some access results are reported as “cannot be determined”. ## Integrity rules How we behave on your site, and how we label who we asked. - We identify as our own bot. We never send another company’s crawler user-agent. - We never solve, bypass or evade bot protection. If we’re challenged, we report it. - We never submit a form, place an order, book an appointment, or enter personal data on your site. - Every agent is named with its true coverage label. We never imply we asked an agent we covered through its underlying model or haven’t tested. See the AI agents we cover. --- # You saw PreferlyBot in your logs. Here’s what it was doing. > What PreferlyBot is, what it fetches from your site, and what it never does. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/bot Someone asked Preferly how AI assistants see a business, and your site was part of that check. We read some of your pages the way an AI agent would, so we can compare what AI says with what your site says. ## What it fetches - Your robots.txt, to see which AI crawlers you allow. - Your homepage and some of the pages it links to, such as about, contact and pricing. These are plain page requests: no JavaScript runs. - Up to 25 of your site’s own links, to find any that are broken. - For a full report, one more test in a real browser: it starts at your homepage and tries to reach your booking page, contact form or similar, the way an AI agent acting for a customer would. This browser runs JavaScript, follows links and clicks buttons that don’t submit anything. The test agent and the link checks follow your robots.txt rules for PreferlyBot. It only runs when someone requests a check, so it visits rarely. One exception: once, in October 2026, we ran it for a [public research study](https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study) of 4,111 small business websites. It made the free AI crawler check’s two requests to each site (robots.txt, then the homepage), fetched the homepage only where robots.txt allowed PreferlyBot, and sent one request at a time to each site. Sites that returned an error or a bot check were checked once more a few minutes later. The free AI crawler check, on our website or in ChatGPT, reads only robots.txt, the homepage and /llms.txt, when someone asks for it. ## What it never does - It never types, fills in fields, submits forms, books, buys or signs in. - It never clicks to accept cookies or terms, and never solves a CAPTCHA. - Its browser only lets requests that read a page through (GET, HEAD and OPTIONS) and blocks everything else, so it can’t send anything to your site. - It never disguises itself or tries to get past bot protection. If your site challenges it, we report that and stop. ## How it identifies itself Every request carries this User-Agent: `PreferlyBot/1.0 (+https://preferly.ai/bot)` Its requests are also signed with Web Bot Auth, so your site or CDN can verify they really come from PreferlyBot. Our public keys are in our [key directory](https://www.preferly.ai/.well-known/http-message-signatures-directory). --- # Questions? Email us. > How to reach Preferly about a check, a report, a payment or a refund. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/contact About a check, a report, a payment or a refund: write to us and we’ll reply by email. ## Email [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai) Tell us the business you checked and the email address you used, so we can find your check or your order. ## Refunds If your report finds no fixes, [email us](mailto:hello@preferly.ai) within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. ## Saw PreferlyBot in your logs? Here’s what it fetches and what it never does. --- # Earn $20 for each new buyer you send us. > Preferly is an AI visibility audit for businesses. Recommend it to business owners: your audience gets 20% off the full report, and you earn $20 for each new buyer. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/refer Your audience gets 20% off Preferly’s full report. Preferly is an AI visibility audit for businesses. It shows a business owner what 10 leading AI models say when customers ask about their kind of business: who AI recommends instead of them, and where AI contradicts their website. Then it gives them a fix plan. Share your link or code. Your audience pays $79.20 instead of $99, and you earn $20 on each new buyer’s first report. See an example report ## The program at a glance **You earn** $20 per new buyer **They pay** $79.20 (20% off $99) **Payouts** Net-30, from $20 **Joining** Apply; we review each application ## How it works, in three steps You apply once. After that, your link and code are yours to share. 1. ### Apply Sign up in the creator portal with your email; you sign in with a code we email you, no password. You choose your link name and your promo code. We review every application before it goes live. 2. ### Share Use your link, `www.preferly.ai/?via=yourname`, or say your code in a video or podcast. The link applies 20% off by itself; the code works at checkout. 3. ### Earn When someone you referred buys their first full report, you earn $20. Your portal shows your link, your code and your earnings. ## What you earn, and what your audience gets One offer on both sides: a discount for them, a fixed commission for you. ### Your audience gets **$79.20** instead of $99 20% off the full report, one-time payment - The full report from 10 leading AI models - Every competitor AI recommends instead of them, by name - Every place AI contradicts their website, with the evidence - Whether AI crawlers can reach and read their site - Every fix in priority order, with paste-ready code - The discount applies by itself through your link, or with your code at checkout - Your code works again on later reports ### You earn **$20** per new buyer Fixed, on each referred buyer’s first full report - **Link or code:** both count, so use whichever suits the format - **60-day window:** if they click your link and buy within 60 days, the sale is yours. The first creator link they click gets the credit - **Works across devices:** if they run the free check from your link and buy later from our email, it still counts - **No limit** on how many buyers you refer - **Payouts** on a Net-30 schedule, once you’re owed $20 or more - Commissions on refunded or charged-back orders are reversed ## Who it’s for Anyone whose audience includes small and medium business owners, or the people who market for them. - Creators who teach marketing, local SEO or AI search, on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts or newsletters - Freelancers, consultants and fractional marketers who advise business owners - Customers who used the report and want to pass it on - Creators outside the US are welcome to apply ## How to talk about Preferly A few rules keep it honest for your audience and for us. We approve applications and keep creators in the program on this basis. ### Say it this way - Disclose the partnership in the content itself, every time: “Paid partnership with Preferly”, “Ad” or “#PreferlyPartner”. In video, say it and show it on screen. - Describe only what you saw in a report. Preferly doesn’t promise rankings, traffic or sales, so please don’t either. - Say “10 leading AI models” and “AI contradicts your website”. - Preferly tests AI models today. Grok Bot, Meta Muse and OpenAI dots are covered through the models behind them; don’t say we ask the agents themselves. Hark is coming soon. - Use your own report or the example report, not other businesses’ results without their OK. ### Not allowed - Posting your code on coupon or deal sites - Bidding on “Preferly” in search ads - Sending bulk or cold email on Preferly’s behalf - Implying you work for Preferly These rules are part of our creator program terms. ## Questions creators ask ### How do I sign in to the portal? With your email address. We send you a code each time; there’s no password. ### Can I choose my link and code? Yes. You pick both when you sign up. Your link looks like `www.preferly.ai/?via=yourname`. ### Can I add tracking tags to my link? Yes, `utm_` tags are fine. Keep the link to `?via=` plus `utm_` tags only. Don’t add other parameters, especially `ref=`, or the sale may not be credited to you. ### Do I earn on repeat purchases? No. You earn $20 on each referred buyer’s first full report. Your audience can still use your code again for 20% off later reports. ### When do I get paid? Payouts run on a Net-30 schedule once you’re owed $20 or more. Commissions on refunded or charged-back orders are reversed. ### What if someone uses my link and my code? It’s the same discount and the same credit. A buyer gets 20% once per order, not twice. ### Do I have to disclose the partnership? Yes, in every piece of content, in the content itself. It’s a condition of the program. ### Who can join? Anyone can apply, including freelancers, consultants and creators outside the US. Every application is reviewed. ### Can I buy through my own link? Yes. You get the 20% discount and the $20 commission, on your first full report purchase. ### Where are the full terms? In our terms of service, under Creator program. ### I have a question that isn’t here. Email us at [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai). ## Send business owners to Preferly, and earn $20 for each new buyer. See an example report Applying means you agree to the creator program terms. --- # What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? > Preferly asks 10 AI models the questions your customers ask and shows whether they name you, who they name instead, and where AI contradicts your website. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit The best audit is one that asks AI the questions your customers actually ask, without naming you, and shows the full answers. Preferly is an AI visibility audit that does this across 10 leading AI models with web search on, then ranks the fixes. The check is free; the full report is $99, paid once. ## What an AI visibility audit should show you - **Whether AI names you when nobody asks about you by name.** Most of our questions are category and problem questions, the way a new customer asks. - **Your rank in each answer.** Being named fifth is not the same as being recommended first. - **Who AI names instead.** Every competitor, by name, and which sources AI cited for them. - **Where AI contradicts your website.** We quote what AI said beside the line on your site that disagrees. - **Whether AI can read your site at all.** Robots.txt rules for 10+ AI crawlers, bot challenges, and whether your key facts are readable without JavaScript. ## Which AI models Preferly asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude Opus, Grok, Meta Muse Spark, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, NVIDIA Nemotron and GLM. Each one gets each question once, through its API, with the same neutral instruction. Answers vary from run to run, so every result is dated and shows the exact questions. ## How the score works A score from 0 to 100 in four parts: Visibility (40), Accuracy (25), Sources (15) and Access (20). The methodology explains each one, and What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? covers what it means. ## Related - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Is there a free AI visibility checker for my business? - What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? - What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - What is generative engine optimization (GEO), and does my business need it? - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? > Preferly's full report lists every fix in priority order, with steps and code you can paste: structured data, robots.txt lines, page copy and an llms.txt. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-fixes Preferly’s full report ends in a fix plan: every fix in priority order, the points it can win, the steps, and code you can paste. It also gives you an AI Fix Pack, one document you can paste into ChatGPT, Claude or your website builder’s AI assistant, or hand to your developer. ## What the fixes look like - **Structured data (JSON-LD)** that tells AI who you are, what you offer and what you charge, built only from facts on your site. - **Robots.txt lines** when your site blocks AI crawlers you probably want in. - **Page copy** that answers the questions customers ask AI, in their words. - **Corrections** when AI contradicts your website, with the line to check and the sources AI read. - **Where to get listed:** the sites AI cited for your competitors and not for you. ## How fixes are ordered Each fix shows how many points it can add to your score and how much effort it takes. The first three are the ones to do first. ## What the AI Fix Pack does It tells the AI assistant reading it to work through the fixes in order, to ask you before it changes anything, and never to invent prices, hours, reviews or credentials. Anything it isn’t sure of is marked for you to confirm. ## Related - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Is there a free AI visibility checker for my business? - What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? - What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? > Preferly names every competitor 10 AI models recommend for your customers' questions, how often, and the sources they cited. Re-scan once within 30 days to compare. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/track-competitors-in-ai Preferly shows every competitor that 10 leading AI models recommend for your customers’ questions: by name, how many models picked each one, and the sources AI cited for them. It’s a snapshot, not a daily tracker. The full report includes one free re-scan within 30 days, so you can compare before and after. ## What you see about competitors If you’re asking which AI visibility audit tools allow you to track competitor recommendations inside AI engines, here is what Preferly shows: - Every company AI named, ranked by how many answers named it and how many models did. - The sources AI cited when it picked them: lists, directories and articles you can get onto too. - Your own position in each answer, next to theirs. ## Snapshot or tracking? A snapshot tells you where you stand today and what to fix. Tracking tells you how that changes week by week. Preferly does the first, with one re-scan. If you need weekly tracking afterwards, the report tells you which questions and competitors to watch. ## Related - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Is there a free AI visibility checker for my business? - What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? - What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? - Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? > Ask AI the questions your customers ask, without naming yourself. Preferly does this across 3 AI models for free, and 10 in the full report. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/is-ai-recommending-my-competitors Ask AI the questions a new customer would ask, without naming your business, and see who it recommends. You can do it by hand in a few chatbots. Preferly does it for you: the free check asks 3 AI models 5 questions in about a minute, and the full report asks 10 models and names every competitor. ## How to check by hand 1. Write five questions a customer asks before choosing a business like yours, without your name. For example: “Who’s the best [what you do] in [your city]?” 2. Ask each one in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, in a fresh chat with search on. 3. Note whether you’re named, in what position, and who is named instead. 4. Ask once more by name: “What does [your business] offer?” Check whether the answer matches your website. Answers change from run to run and between signed-in users, so one check is a snapshot. ## What Preferly adds - The same questions to every model, with the same neutral instruction, so results are comparable. - A fact check of what AI said about you against your website. - The sources AI cited, and a fix plan. The full report is the $99 audit that shows who AI recommends instead of you, paid once. ## Related - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Is there a free AI visibility checker for my business? - What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? - What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? - Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Is there a free AI visibility checker for my business? > Preferly's free check asks 3 AI models the questions your customers ask and shows whether they name you, who they name instead, and your top fix. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-checker Yes. Preferly’s free check asks 3 AI models the questions a new customer would ask and shows whether they name your business. In about a minute you get a score out of 100, how often AI named you, how many competitors it named instead, and your top fix. ## What an AI visibility checker should test - **Whether AI names you without being asked about you.** The useful questions are the ones a new customer types, like “best dentist near me”, not your business name. - **Whether what AI says is true.** Hours, prices, services and location, checked against your own website. - **Which sources AI cites.** Your own site and profiles, or directories and lists that name your competitors. - **Whether AI can reach your site.** Robots.txt rules, bot checks, and whether your key facts are readable as text. ## The free check and the full report **Free check:** 3 AI models, 5 customer questions, on screen in about a minute. Your score out of 100 with its four parts, how often AI names you, how many competitors it names instead, up to 2 places where AI contradicts your website, whether AI tools can reach your site, and your top fix. **Full report, $99 once:** 10 leading AI models and 5+ customer questions. Every competitor AI recommends instead of you, by name. Every claim AI made about you checked against your website, with what AI said quoted beside the line on your site. Robots.txt rules for 10+ AI crawlers. Every fix in priority order, with paste-ready code, plus an AI Fix Pack. Ready in about 5 minutes, with one free re-scan within 30 days. No subscription and no sales call. See pricing. ## How to check by hand You can run a rough version yourself in a few minutes. 1. Open a new chat in the assistants your customers use, such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Sign out or use a private window if you can, so your own history doesn’t shape the answer. 2. Ask three or four questions a new customer would ask, without your name: “Who’s the best plumber in Tucson?”, “Where can I get a same-day crown near downtown Austin?”, “Which bakery in Portland does custom wedding cakes?” 3. Then ask about your business by name, and compare its hours, prices and services with your website. 4. Write down, for each answer: whether you were named, your place in the list, who was named instead, anything wrong, and the sources it linked. Answers change from day to day, so repeat the same questions after you make changes. The free check runs the same kind of test for you and keeps the questions and answers. ## What the results mean - **AI names competitors and not you:** AI found them on more of the pages it reads. Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? - **AI names you but gets facts wrong:** it’s usually repeating an outdated source. Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - **AI can’t reach your site:** a robots.txt rule or bot check is turning AI crawlers away. Check your site free. - **The score:** what each of its four parts measures is on What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? ## Questions ### Is the free check really free? Yes. There’s no card and no trial, and no email needed. One free check per website every 30 days. The result shows on screen, and you can have it emailed to you if you like. ### Which AI models does the free check ask? ChatGPT, Gemini Flash and Claude Sonnet, each through its API with web search on. The full report asks 10 leading AI models. ### Does it check Google AI Overviews or Perplexity? Not yet. Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot aren’t covered yet. The methodology lists exactly who we ask. ### Will I get the same result if I ask ChatGPT myself? Close, but not identical. The apps add their own instructions, personalization and memory, and answers vary from run to run. Treat any result as a snapshot, and compare like with like. ### Is this the same as an SEO checker? No. An SEO checker looks at your pages and how they rank in Google. An AI visibility checker asks AI assistants about businesses like yours and reads what they answer. ## Related - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? - What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? > Preferly's AI visibility score runs from 0 to 100 in four parts: whether AI recommends you, gets your facts right, cites your site and can read it. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-score Preferly’s AI visibility score is a number from 0 to 100 in four parts: Visibility (40 points), Accuracy (25), Sources (15) and Access (20). It measures whether AI recommends you when customers don’t name you, whether what it says matches your website, whether it cites your own pages, and whether it can read your site. There’s no standard scale, so read the four parts, not only the total. ## What goes into the score - **Visibility (40 points):** how often AI recommends you when the question doesn’t name you, weighted by rank. A top-3 recommendation counts most, a passing mention much less. - **Accuracy (25 points):** the share of checkable things AI said about you that match your website. When AI says too little about you to judge, this part gets a neutral half score. - **Sources (15 points):** how often AI cites your own site or profiles in answers that list sources. - **Access (20 points):** whether AI crawlers are allowed in by robots.txt, can load your homepage without a bot check, can read your key facts without JavaScript, and find valid structured data. The total is the sum, rounded. The methodology gives the exact formula for each part. ## Why scores differ between tools - **Which models are asked.** Each AI model names different businesses. Preferly’s free score uses 3 models and the full report’s uses 10. - **Which questions.** Asking about you by name shows what AI knows. Asking the way a new customer does shows whether it recommends you. Visibility here counts only the questions that don’t name you. - **Whether accuracy counts.** Some scores only count mentions. Ours also checks what AI said against your own website. - **When it ran.** Answers vary from run to run, so a score is a dated snapshot. ## What moves the score - Access: let AI crawlers in and remove bot checks for them. How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - Access and Accuracy: put your hours, prices and services in text and structured data. Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - Accuracy: correct the outdated sources AI repeats. Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business? - Visibility and Sources: get named on the lists and review sites AI cites. How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - The full report ranks your fixes by the points each can add. See what the fixes look like. ## An example score The example report, built from a real run with every name and some results changed, scored 44 out of 100: - **Visibility: 4.6 of 40.** You appeared in 6 of 49 AI answers to customer questions; 5 were a top-3 recommendation. - **Accuracy: 23.6 of 25.** 3 of 52 things AI said about you contradict your website or Google profile. - **Sources: 1.1 of 15.** AI cited your own site or profiles in 3 of 40 answers that listed sources. - **Access: 14.7 of 20.** Robots.txt allows all 9 major AI crawlers (and the 4 others we check); your site loads without a bot challenge. Each part comes with its one-line reason, so you can see which one to work on first. ## Questions ### What’s a good AI visibility score? There’s no industry standard, and scores from different tools aren’t comparable. In Preferly’s score, read the parts: a low Visibility with high Accuracy means AI gets you right but rarely names you, and that is the part to work on first. ### Why is my free score different from my full report’s score? The free score uses 3 AI models; the full report’s score uses all 10, with more questions. Different models name different businesses. ### Why did my score change when I didn’t change anything? AI answers vary from run to run, and the sites AI reads change too. Every result shows its date and the exact questions, so you can compare like with like. ### How do I see whether my fixes moved the score? The full report includes one free re-scan within 30 days, with a before-and-after view. ## Related - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Is there a free AI visibility checker for my business? - What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? - How Preferly checks AI answers - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? > A GEO or AEO audit checks how AI assistants describe and recommend your business. What one should cover, your options, and Preferly's $99 one-time audit. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/geo-audit A GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization) audit checks how AI assistants describe and recommend your business, and what to fix. GEO and AEO are two names for the same work. Preferly’s AI visibility audit is one: $99 once, 10 leading AI models, and every contradiction quoted against your own website. ## What a GEO or AEO audit should cover - **Customer questions that don’t name you,** asked across several AI models, with web search on. - **Whether you’re named, and where.** Your place in each answer, and who is named instead. - **Accuracy.** What AI says about your hours, prices, services and location, checked against your website. - **Sources.** Which sites AI cites, and whether your own site is one of them. - **Crawler access.** Robots.txt rules for AI crawlers, bot checks, and whether your facts are readable without JavaScript. - **Structured data.** Whether your pages state your business facts in a form any crawler can read. - **A fix list in priority order,** specific enough to act on. ## Your options, and what you pay - **A one-time audit.** You pay once, get a dated snapshot and a fix list, and make the changes yourself or hand them to your web person. - **A subscription tracker.** A monthly fee to re-ask AI on a schedule and chart the results. Useful for marketing teams who report on trends; more than most small businesses need to start. - **An agency audit.** A person reviews your site and AI answers, usually priced by quote, and often leads to ongoing work. ## What you get from Preferly - $99 once, no subscription and no sales call. - 10 leading AI models: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude Opus, Grok, Meta Muse Spark, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, NVIDIA Nemotron and GLM. - Every competitor AI recommends instead of you, by name, with the sites AI cited for them. - Every claim AI made about you checked against your website, with what AI said quoted beside the line on your site that disagrees. - Robots.txt rules for 10+ AI crawlers, bot checks and readability. - Every fix in priority order, with paste-ready code, plus an AI Fix Pack to paste into your own AI assistant. See what the fixes look like. - Ready in about 5 minutes, with one free re-scan within 30 days. Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot aren’t covered yet. See an example report before you pay. ## The do-it-yourself version 1. Check that AI crawlers can reach your site with the free crawler check. 2. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude three or four questions a new customer would ask, without your name, and note who they name. 3. Ask about your business by name and compare the answer with your website. 4. Fix your facts in text and structured data. Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? 5. Ask the same questions again in a few weeks. ## Questions ### Is an AEO audit the same as a GEO audit? Yes, in practice. GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) are two names for making your business easy for AI assistants to find, describe correctly and recommend. An audit under either name should check the same things. ### What is an AI SEO audit? Another name for the same check, sometimes also called an AI search visibility audit. Some agencies use it for a regular SEO audit with an AI section added, so ask whether it asks AI models real customer questions. ### Do I need one? If customers might ask ChatGPT or Gemini for a business like yours, it’s worth knowing what they hear. Start with the free check: 3 AI models, 5 customer questions, about a minute. If it shows gaps, the full audit lists every fix. ### Is Preferly’s audit a subscription? No. You pay $99 once and nothing renews. It includes one free re-scan within 30 days to see what changed after your fixes. ### What if the audit isn’t useful? If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. ## Related - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Is there a free AI visibility checker for my business? - What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? - What is generative engine optimization (GEO), and does my business need it? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Are AI crawlers blocked from your site? > Check whether your robots.txt lets in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and other AI crawlers, and whether your homepage loads for them. Free, no email. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check Enter your website. We check your robots.txt rules for 10+ AI crawlers and whether your homepage loads for an automated visitor. Free, no email, results in a few seconds. ## On this page 1. [Short answer](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#short-answer) 2. [How to use this check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#how-to-use) 3. [How to read the result](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#how-to-read) 4. [What this does not prove](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#what-this-does-not-prove) 5. [Why blocked crawlers matter](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#why-it-matters) 6. [Questions](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#faq) 7. [Related free tools](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#related-tools) 8. [See what AI says about you](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#cta) ## How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? Check two things: your robots.txt, which tells each AI crawler whether it may read your pages, and whether your site shows automated visitors a bot challenge. The checker above does both. If AI crawlers can’t read your site, AI answers about your products come from other sources: old directory listings, review sites, articles. That’s where answers that contradict your website usually come from. | You want to | Do this | | --- | --- | | Know if AI can reach your site | Run the checker above (robots.txt and homepage load) | | Let search crawlers in and keep training crawlers out | Use the AI robots.txt generator, then check again here | | See what AI already says about you | Run the free check (3 AI models; shows up to 2 places AI contradicts your website) | | Every claim checked, with paste-ready fixes | The full report (10 AI models, $99 once) | ## How to use this check 1. Enter your website. The homepage address is fine. 2. Run the check. It’s free, needs no email and usually finishes in a few seconds. 3. Read the crawler rows: which AI crawlers your robots.txt lets in or keeps out, and the rule that decides each one. 4. Read the homepage line: whether our identified crawler, PreferlyBot, got your page, or a bot check or an error instead. 5. Note whether you have an `/llms.txt`. This page only says whether the file is there; the llms.txt checker checks what’s in it. 6. If crawlers are blocked or the homepage didn’t load, fix that first. If crawlers are allowed and the page loads, the next question is what AI says about you: [see below](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check#cta). ## How to read the result - **Allowed.** Your robots.txt lets that crawler read your homepage. That doesn’t mean the AI company will visit or use your pages. - **Blocked.** A `Disallow` under that crawler’s name, or under `User-agent: *`, keeps it out. The result shows the rule that decides it. Search crawlers and training crawlers are separate choices (see the questions below). - **Loaded.** PreferlyBot got a normal page. Automated visitors aren’t being stopped at the door. - **Blocked by a bot check.** A firewall or CDN turned our crawler away, even if robots.txt allows AI crawlers. - **Didn’t load.** Certificate errors, timeouts and server errors stop AI crawlers too. In our study of 3,693 small and local business websites, 5.0% didn’t load for our crawler, often because of broken HTTPS. - **llms.txt Found or Not found.** Whether the file is there. For its format and content, use the llms.txt checker. ### Blocked crawlers, step by step 1. **Robots.txt.** Each AI company publishes the name its crawler uses (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and others). A `Disallow: /` under that name, or under `User-agent: *`, keeps it out. Should I block GPTBot? 2. **Bot protection.** Firewalls and CDN settings can block AI crawlers even when robots.txt allows them. Some CDNs turn this on by default. In our study of 3,693 small and local business websites, 5.8% showed our identified crawler a bot check. 3. **JavaScript-only content.** Many AI tools read the raw page without running scripts, so facts that only appear after scripts run can be missed. Can AI read your business info? ## What this does not prove This check doesn’t: - Ask AI models what they say about your business - Show where AI contradicts your website - Prove you’ll appear in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini or Google AI answers - Get past or solve bot checks - Replace a full AI visibility audit ### Checking whether AI contradicts your website Unblocking crawlers lets AI read your site. To see whether AI is already telling customers something different, ask it about your business. Preferly’s free check asks 3 AI models and shows up to 2 places where AI contradicts your website; the full report checks every claim. Compare the free check and the full audit. ## Why blocked crawlers matter When AI crawlers can’t reach your site, AI answers lean on whatever else is online about your business: directories, reviews, old articles. That’s the usual source of wrong hours, wrong services, or a competitor named instead of you. In Preferly’s study of 4,111 small and local business websites (3,693 analyzed), 85.6% were fully open to AI crawlers and 14.4% were not. Only 3.1% had robots.txt rules that keep AI crawlers out; most of the rest showed a bot check or didn’t load. More numbers from the study. ## Questions ### What’s the difference between GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot? OpenAI says GPTBot collects pages that may be used to train its models, and OAI-SearchBot finds pages to show in ChatGPT search. Each has its own robots.txt setting, so you can keep one out and let the other in. ### Does blocking Google-Extended remove me from Google Search? No. Google says Google-Extended doesn’t affect whether your site appears in Google Search. It controls whether pages Googlebot collects may be used for Google’s Gemini models. ### Can a firewall block AI crawlers when robots.txt allows them? Yes. Bot protection on a CDN or firewall can turn crawlers away whatever robots.txt says. This check loads your homepage as an identified crawler to spot that. Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers? ### Does this check what AI says about my business? No. It checks whether AI crawlers can reach your site. The free check asks AI models about your business and shows where AI contradicts your website. ### What’s the difference between this page and the free check? This page reads your robots.txt, your homepage (as PreferlyBot) and whether you have an /llms.txt. The free check asks 3 AI models the questions customers ask and shows up to 2 places where AI contradicts your website. Start the free check ## Related free tools - AI robots.txt generator: Choose which AI crawlers may read your site and copy the robots.txt lines. - Business schema checker: See which business details your homepage's structured data gives machines, and get the code to add. - Where to get listed: See which sites AI cited when it answered questions about businesses like yours. - Can AI read your business info? See whether your hours, phone number, prices and address are readable without running scripts. - llms.txt checker: Check your llms.txt against the llmstxt.org format, or write one. - All free tools ## Related - Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers from my website? - How many small business websites block AI crawlers? - All guides --- # Six free tools. One question each. > Free tools for business websites and AI search: check AI crawler access, write robots.txt lines, check your business schema, and see where AI finds businesses. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/tools **Free tools** for AI search Each tool answers one question about your website and AI. All free; only Where to get listed asks AI models, because it runs the free check. **Start here** · the free check ## See what AI says about you The tools below check your site. The free check asks 3 AI models the questions your customers ask, then shows whether they name you and where AI contradicts your website. Start free check 3 AI modelsAbout a minute ## The tools Free, nothing to install - ### AI crawler check Are AI crawlers allowed in? See which AI crawlers your robots.txt lets in, and whether your homepage loads for them. What it covers - Rules for 13 AI crawlers - Whether your homepage loads for an automated visitor - Bot checks that block AI crawlers - Whether you have an llms.txt Reads robots.txt, homepage, /llms.txt It reads only robots.txt, the homepage and /llms.txt. Free, no email - ### AI robots.txt generator Which crawlers should I allow? Choose which AI crawlers may read your site and copy the robots.txt lines. What it covers - AI search crawlers - AI assistants fetching a page for someone - AI training crawlers Runs in your browser, fetches nothing It runs in the browser and fetches nothing. Free, no email - ### Business schema checker Can machines tell what your business is? See which business details your homepage's structured data gives machines, and get the code to add. What it covers - Which business details are there - Which are missing or look off - JSON-LD to paste in Reads your homepage It reads only the homepage (with robots.txt and /llms.txt, in the same scan as the crawler check). Free, no email - ### Where to get listed Which sites does AI cite? See which sites AI cited when it answered questions about businesses like yours. What it covers - The sites AI cited for businesses like yours - The top 3, with how many answers cited each Asks AI models, needs email It runs the free check, which asks AI models about your business and needs your email. Free, needs email - ### Can AI read your business info? Are your hours and prices readable? See whether your hours, phone number, prices and address are readable without running scripts. What it covers - Name, phone and email - Address - Hours - Prices Reads homepage + up to 2 pages It reads the homepage and up to 2 contact, booking or pricing pages, as robots.txt allows. Free, no email - ### llms.txt checker Is your llms.txt set up right? Check your llms.txt against the llmstxt.org format, or write one. What it covers - The llmstxt.org format - A file to copy if you have none Reads /llms.txt and homepage It reads /llms.txt and the homepage; it doesn't follow the file's links. Free, no email Plain answers about AI search for business owners: the Preferly blog and the guides by topic and industry. ## Use Preferly from your AI agent These checks also run as an MCP server, so any AI agent or assistant that supports MCP can call them. Connect to `https://www.preferly.ai/mcp` (streamable HTTP). Add `?client=` with your agent’s name so we can tell clients apart, for example: ``` { "mcpServers": { "preferly": { "url": "https://www.preferly.ai/mcp?client=" } } } ``` Recognized names: hermes, claude, cursor, codex, openclaw, vscode, goose, smithery, monid. Any other MCP client works without one. - `check_ai_crawler_access`: Whether a website's robots.txt lets AI crawlers in, whether its homepage loads for them or shows a bot check, whether it has /llms.txt, and its structured data types. - `generate_ai_robots_txt`: robots.txt lines that let AI search and assistant crawlers in and keep training crawlers out, or any mix. Fetches nothing. - `check_llms_txt`: Whether a website publishes /llms.txt, its size and title, and what doesn't follow the llmstxt.org format. - `check_business_schema`: The business described in a homepage's structured data (JSON-LD): its type, which fields are present, missing or look off. - `check_business_info`: Whether a website's name, phone, email, address, hours and prices are readable as text without running scripts. Free, no sign-up and no key. Each caller gets 10 calls an hour and 30 website checks a day, and each website at most 20 fresh checks a day across all callers. **When you want the whole picture** ## The full report: 10 AI models, then the fixes. The full report checks 10 leading AI models and gives you every fix in order with paste-ready code, in the AI Fix Pack. $99 once, no subscription. Get the full report $99See an example report Checked across 10 leading AI models - OpenAI - Google - Anthropic - xAI - Meta - DeepSeek - Alibaba - Moonshot AI - NVIDIA - Z.ai --- # AI robots.txt generator: choose which AI crawlers can read your site > Pick which AI crawlers may read your website and copy the robots.txt lines: let AI search in and keep training out, or choose each one. Free, no email. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/tools/ai-robots-txt-generator Pick which AI crawlers may read your website and copy the robots.txt lines. Free, no email, nothing leaves your browser. ## The short answer Add a group to robots.txt for each AI crawler, with Allow: / to let it in or Disallow: / to keep it out. Search and assistant crawlers fetch pages for live answers; training crawlers collect pages for future models. Keeping training crawlers out doesn’t remove you from AI search. ## What this tool doesn’t cover What AI actually says about your business, and where AI contradicts your website. The free check asks AI models the questions your customers ask and shows both. ## Questions ### Which AI crawlers should a business let in? If you want AI to recommend you, let in the search and assistant crawlers: OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Meta-WebIndexer, ChatGPT-User, Claude-User, Perplexity-User and Meta-ExternalFetcher. They fetch pages for live answers. Training crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, Applebot-Extended and Meta-ExternalAgent) are a separate choice. ### Will blocking GPTBot keep me out of ChatGPT answers? No. OpenAI says GPTBot collects pages that may be used to train its models. ChatGPT search uses OAI-SearchBot, and ChatGPT-User fetches a page when someone asks. Each one has its own robots.txt setting. ### What is Google-Extended? A robots.txt switch, not a separate crawler. It tells Google whether pages Googlebot already collects may be used for its Gemini models. Google says it doesn’t affect whether your site appears in Google Search. ### Where does robots.txt go? At the root of your website, as yoursite.com/robots.txt. Most website builders have a setting for it; on a custom site, whoever maintains it can add the lines. ### How do I check it worked? Run the free AI crawler check on your site. It reads your robots.txt and shows which AI crawlers it lets in, with the rule that decides each one. ## Related - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Business schema checker: can AI tell what your business is? > Check the structured data (JSON-LD) on your homepage: which business details it gives search engines and AI, which are missing, and the code to add. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/tools/business-schema-checker Enter your website. We read the structured data (JSON-LD) on your homepage and show which business details are there, which are missing, and the code to add. Free, no email. ## The short answer Structured data is a short, machine-readable label in your page’s code that states your business name, type, address, phone and hours. Search engines and AI tools can read it without guessing from your page text. Put one LocalBusiness or Organization block on your homepage and keep it matching what the page says. ## What this tool doesn’t cover What AI actually says about your business, and where AI contradicts your website. The free check asks AI models the questions your customers ask and shows both. ## Questions ### What is JSON-LD? A way to add structured data to a page: a short block of code in the page’s head that states facts like your business name, address and hours in a format machines read directly. It doesn’t change how the page looks. ### Which schema type should a local business use? LocalBusiness, or the most specific subtype that fits, such as Dentist, Restaurant or Plumber. A business without a public location, like an online service, uses Organization. ### Does schema markup help with AI search? It helps machines read your facts without guessing from your page text. It doesn’t guarantee that AI mentions you. Schema markup for AI search explains what it does and doesn’t do. ### How is this different from Google’s Rich Results Test? That test checks whether a page qualifies for Google’s search features. This tool grades the business details themselves: which are there, which are missing, and whether they match your page. ### Where do I paste it? In your homepage’s head section. Most website builders have a setting for code in the head; on a custom site, whoever maintains it can add it. Keep one block for your business, and update it when your details change. ## Related - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Where does AI find businesses like yours? > AI recommends businesses it has read about on other sites. Run the free check to see which sites AI cited for your category, then get listed where it counts. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/tools/where-ai-finds-businesses AI answers recommend businesses it has read about on other sites. Run the free check to see which sites AI cited for your category, then get listed where it counts. ## The short answer AI answers recommend businesses that other sites already name: review sites, directories, local news, “best of” lists and forums. Which sites count depends on your category and your area. The free check shows which sites AI cited when it answered questions about businesses like yours. ## Where AI reads about businesses When someone asks AI for a recommendation, models with web search read pages about businesses like yours and cite some of them. These come up often: - **Review sites and maps listings,** where customers rate businesses. - **Directories,** general and for your trade. - **Local news and “best of” lists,** which name a few businesses and say why. - **Forums and community threads,** where people ask each other for recommendations. Which ones matter depends on your category and your area, so a generic list of directories is mostly guesswork. The free check shows the ones AI actually cited. Where AI gets business information covers the rest. ## What this tool doesn’t cover It doesn’t submit listings for you or promise one. The free check names the sites; the full report lists the exact pages, what each one already names, how to get listed on it, and a ready-to-send pitch. ## Questions ### Do backlinks matter for AI answers? Being named on the pages AI reads matters more than the link itself. A listing, review or article that names your business in the words customers use is something an AI answer can repeat. ### Are free directory listings worth it? Some are. A directory that AI actually cites for your category is worth a complete, accurate profile; many others aren’t read at all. The free check shows which sites AI cited for businesses like yours. ### Which sites does AI cite for local businesses? It depends on the category and the area. Review sites, maps and directory listings, local news and “best of” lists come up often. The free check shows the top sites for your category. ### What does the full report add? The full report asks 10 AI models and lists the exact pages AI cited, what each one already names, the way to get onto it, and a ready-to-send pitch or listing text. It can’t promise you a listing. ### Do you submit listings for me? No. We show you where AI looks and how to get onto those pages; you, or someone you trust, sends the pitch or fills in the listing. ## Related - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Can AI read your business hours, phone number and prices? > Many AI tools read your page without running scripts. Check whether your hours, phone number, prices and address are readable as text. Free, no email. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/tools/ai-readable-business-info Many AI tools read the raw page without running scripts. Enter your website and see which of your key details they can read. Free, no email. ## The short answer AI tools that read your raw page see only what’s in the HTML before scripts run. If your hours, phone or prices appear only after JavaScript loads, or only in an image, AI may take them from another site instead, and that’s often where AI contradicts your website. ## What this tool doesn’t cover What AI actually says about your business, and where AI contradicts your website. The free check asks AI models the questions your customers ask and shows both. ## Questions ### Why would AI give out my old hours? Usually because it couldn’t read your current hours on your own site, so it took them from somewhere else: an old directory listing, a review site, a cached page. Why AI gives out wrong business hours covers the fixes. ### Do AI crawlers run JavaScript? Many don’t. They read the HTML your server sends, the way this tool does. Some AI tools render pages in a browser, but you can’t count on it, so your key details should be in the page text. ### Does my website builder hide text from AI? Most builders put your text in the page HTML. The common exceptions are details placed in an image, an embedded widget (a booking or map widget, say) or a block that loads after the page does. Run the check to see. ### How do I fix it? Put your hours, phone number, address and prices on the page as plain text, not only inside a widget or an image. Add the same details as structured data, and keep both matching. The business schema checker writes the code. ## Related - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # llms.txt checker: is your llms.txt file set up correctly? > Check your llms.txt against the llmstxt.org format, or write one from your homepage's pages. With a plain note on what llms.txt does and doesn't do. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/tools/llms-txt-checker Enter your website. We fetch your /llms.txt, check it against the llmstxt.org format, and help you write one if you don't have it. Free, no email. ## The short answer llms.txt is an optional plain-text guide to your website for AI tools, at yoursite.com/llms.txt. Some AI tools and coding assistants read it; Google says its AI features don’t need it. It takes a few minutes, but getting AI crawlers in and your facts readable matters more. ## What this tool doesn’t cover What AI actually says about your business, and where AI contradicts your website. The free check asks AI models the questions your customers ask and shows both. ## Questions ### Do I need an llms.txt? No. It’s optional, and the evidence that it changes AI answers is thin. It’s cheap to add, but letting AI crawlers in and keeping your facts readable as text matter more. What llms.txt is explains it. ### Does Google use llms.txt? Google says its AI features, such as AI Overviews, don’t need any special text files: Google’s guidance on AI features. Some other AI tools and coding assistants read llms.txt. ### What goes in it? Your name as the title, a one-line summary, a short paragraph about what you offer, then sections of links to your key pages with a note on each. Plain text in Markdown; no HTML. ### llms.txt or robots.txt? Different jobs. robots.txt tells crawlers what they may read, and blocking the wrong crawler there keeps you out of AI answers. llms.txt is an optional guide to what’s worth reading. Get robots.txt right first: check it or write the lines. ### How do I add it on Wix, Squarespace or WordPress? It goes at the root of your site, as yoursite.com/llms.txt. Where each builder puts it: - Wix: Wix creates an llms.txt for some sites (it needs a Premium plan, a connected domain and indexing switched on). Look under SEO & GEO > Tools and settings for llms.txt; if it's there, open it, choose Edit file and add what's missing from the draft. Editing it stops Wix updating it automatically. If you don't see it, it isn't offered for your site yet, and Wix has no other way to publish a file at /llms.txt. - Squarespace: We couldn't confirm a standard way to publish a file at /llms.txt on Squarespace. If your SEO settings show an llms.txt option, paste the draft there. If not, skip it: llms.txt is optional, and the other fixes in this pack matter more. - WordPress: Yoast SEO: Yoast SEO > Settings > Site features, turn on llms.txt (it builds the file from your pages, and you can choose which pages it lists). Rank Math: turn on the LLMS Txt module in Rank Math SEO > Dashboard, then edit it under General Settings > Edit llms.txt. Without either plugin, upload the file to your site's main folder with your host's file manager. ## Related - What is an llms.txt file, and do I need one? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - AI robots.txt generator: choose which AI crawlers can read your site - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Guides > Plain answers to the questions business owners ask about AI: getting recommended by ChatGPT, AI crawlers and robots.txt, llms.txt, and fixing wrong information. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/guides Plain answers to the questions business owners ask about AI search. ## Getting recommended by AI - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? Eligible businesses can claim a ChatGPT profile in beta; that doesn’t guarantee a recommendation. - Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? Usually because your competitor is named on more of the pages ChatGPT reads: directories, “best of” lists, review sites and articles. - What is generative engine optimization (GEO), and does my business need it? Generative engine optimization, also called GEO or AEO, means making your business easy for AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to find, read, describe correctly and recommend. - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? It helps AI tools and search engines read your facts correctly, but it won’t get you recommended on its own, and Google says no special markup is needed for its AI features. - Meta’s AI assistant is now a shopping channel. Does it recommend your business? Meta says shopping is the most common use of Muse, its AI agent: over 25% of weekly users shop with it, and the average purchase is over $200, travel included. ## When AI contradicts your website - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? From two places: what a model learned in training, and what its web search finds when someone asks. - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? AI usually repeats an outdated source: an old directory listing, a duplicate map listing, holiday hours never removed, or hours shown only in an image on your site. - How do I get my business into Google AI Overviews, and fix what they say? Google says a page needs to be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear as a link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, with no separate sign-up. ## AI crawlers and your site - Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? It depends on what you want to block. - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? Make sure your robots.txt doesn’t disallow the AI crawlers you want, and that no bot check turns them away. - Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers from my website? It might be. - What is an llms.txt file, and do I need one? llms.txt is a proposed Markdown file at yoursite.com/llms.txt that summarizes your business and links your key pages for AI tools. ## By industry - How can my dental practice show up when patients ask AI for a dentist? AI recommends practices it can find and confirm: ones whose sites list services, insurance accepted, hours, emergency availability and location in plain text, with consistent listings and reviews on the sites AI reads. - How can my law firm show up when people ask AI for a lawyer? AI names firms it can match to the exact legal problem and place. - How can my restaurant show up when people ask AI where to eat? AI recommends restaurants it can match to a cuisine, a neighborhood, a price and a time. - How can my plumbing, HVAC or electrical business show up when people ask AI who to call? AI names contractors it can match to the job, the area and the urgency. - How can I show up when buyers ask AI for an agent who knows my neighborhood? AI recommends agents it can tie to specific neighborhoods, property types and kinds of clients. - How can my auto shop show up when drivers ask AI who services their make of car? AI names repair shops it can match to the car, the job and the timing. - How can my firm show up when people ask AI for an accountant who handles their exact situation? AI recommends accountants, advisors and insurance agents it can match to a specific situation. - How can my salon show up when people ask AI who does a specific cut or color near them? AI names salons, barbers and tattoo studios it can match to a specific service and style. - How can my practice show up when patients ask AI for a doctor accepting new patients? AI names practices it can match to a specialty, a patient's situation and whether they're taking new patients. - How can my cafe show up when people ask AI for a good place to work with wifi? AI names cafes and bakeries it can match to what someone wants right now: a place to work, a dietary need, an early pastry. ## Research - How many small business websites block AI crawlers? We checked 3,693 small and local business websites in 26 US cities and metro areas. ## Free tools - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? Check two things: your robots.txt, which tells each AI crawler whether it may read your pages, and whether your site shows automated visitors a bot challenge. - AI robots.txt generator: choose which AI crawlers can read your site Add a group to robots.txt for each AI crawler, with Allow: / to let it in or Disallow: / to keep it out. - Business schema checker: can AI tell what your business is? Structured data is a short, machine-readable label in your page’s code that states your business name, type, address, phone and hours. - Where does AI find businesses like yours? AI answers recommend businesses that other sites already name: review sites, directories, local news, “best of” lists and forums. - Can AI read your business hours, phone number and prices? AI tools that read your raw page see only what’s in the HTML before scripts run. - llms.txt checker: is your llms.txt file set up correctly? llms.txt is an optional plain-text guide to your website for AI tools, at yoursite.com/llms.txt. - Free tools for AI search Every free tool in one place. ## About Preferly - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? The best audit is one that asks AI the questions your customers actually ask, without naming you, and shows the full answers. - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? Preferly’s full report ends in a fix plan: every fix in priority order, the points it can win, the steps, and code you can paste. - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? Preferly shows every competitor that 10 leading AI models recommend for your customers’ questions: by name, how many models picked each one, and the sources AI cited for them. - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? Ask AI the questions a new customer would ask, without naming your business, and see who it recommends. - Is there a free AI visibility checker for my business? Yes. Preferly’s free check asks 3 AI models the questions a new customer would ask and shows whether they name your business. - What is an AI visibility score, and what’s a good one? Preferly’s AI visibility score is a number from 0 to 100 in four parts: Visibility, Accuracy, Sources and Access. - What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? A GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization) audit checks how AI assistants describe and recommend your business, and what to fix. - Pricing: the free check and the full report Start free, and pay once if you want the full report. ## From the blog - Why is my business not showing up on ChatGPT? Your business is missing from ChatGPT's answers. The seven usual causes, from a blocked crawler to thin listings, how to test each one, and what to fix first. - AI crawler access across 14 types of local business: restaurants and hotels trail, vets lead We checked 162 to 353 websites in each of 14 types of local business. Vets and cafes were the most open to AI crawlers; hotels and real estate the least. - Alternatives to monthly AI visibility trackers You don't need a monthly plan to see what AI says about your business. Free checkers, one-time audits and website builder tools, with prices and coverage. - Best AI visibility audit tools for small businesses (2026) Nine AI visibility tools a small business can start without a sales call, A to Z: free checkers, one-time audits and monthly trackers, with prices. - ChatGPT now lets you claim your business OpenAI now lets eligible businesses claim a ChatGPT profile. Who can join the beta, what official insights show, and why a Preferly check still helps. - Only 3.2% of small business sites block AI crawlers in robots.txt. Here's who they block Of 3,370 small business sites with a readable robots.txt, 109 block at least one major AI crawler and 29 block all of them. The crawlers they name most. - 216 small business sites showed our crawler a bot check. Here's why that hides you from AI 5.8% of the 3,693 small business websites we checked showed an identified crawler a bot check instead of the homepage. Who causes it and what to ask your host. - 1 in 7 small business websites aren't fully open to AI. Is yours one of them? We checked 3,693 small business websites. 530 weren't fully open to AI crawlers, and most of those owners never chose that. Here's what got in the way. All posts --- # How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? > Eligible businesses can claim a ChatGPT profile, in beta. That doesn't guarantee a recommendation. What to fix on your website, listings and the pages AI cites. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/how-to-get-chatgpt-to-recommend-my-business Last updated: 2026-11-10 Eligible businesses can claim a ChatGPT profile in beta; that doesn’t guarantee a recommendation. ChatGPT still recommends businesses it can find through search, read on their own site and confirm elsewhere. Let AI crawlers in, state what you do, where and for whom in plain text, keep your listings identical everywhere, and get named on the sites AI cites. Updated November 10, 2026 ## How ChatGPT picks a business With search on, ChatGPT searches the web, reads a handful of pages and summarizes them. Those pages are often directories, “best of” lists and review sites rather than your own site. It favors businesses that several sources agree on. Answers vary from run to run, so it helps to track which competitors AI recommends across several questions, not one. The steps below are the core of what generative engine optimization is: making your business easy for AI to find, read and recommend. ## You can claim a ChatGPT business profile now You can now claim a ChatGPT business profile if you’re eligible. OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on November 10, 2026. Eligible businesses claim the profile in Business Hub, then, after identity verification, can update their details and see aggregated ChatGPT insights. OpenAI says claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales, and ChatGPT continues to make independent recommendations and may still use other sources. The steps below still matter. For who can claim, how to do it, and what official insights do and don’t show, see Businesses in ChatGPT. ## What to fix, in order 1. **Let it in.** OAI-SearchBot decides whether you can appear in ChatGPT search answers; GPTBot is for training only. No bot check should turn them away. In our study, 1.0% of small business sites with a readable robots.txt blocked OAI-SearchBot. Check free; details in How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? 2. **Say it plainly on your site.** Give each service its own page, with your service area, prices or a price range, hours and contact details as text, not only in images. Put the answer first. 3. **Add structured data** for your business type, built from facts on the page. See Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? 4. **Keep your facts identical everywhere:** your website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp and industry directories. See Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business? 5. **Get named where AI looks.** Ask ChatGPT your customer’s question, open its sources and get listed on those pages. See Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? 6. **Answer the questions customers ask,** on your own pages, in their words. ## How to test it Ask 5 customer questions without your name, in a fresh chat with search on, and note who’s named. Repeat monthly. The full method is at How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors? ## What doesn’t work Paying for “AI submission”, stuffing keywords, and fake reviews. Fake reviews are illegal under the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, and AI tools read the same review sites people do. ## What Preferly shows you The free check asks 3 AI models 5 customer questions. The full report asks 10 models 5+ questions, names every competitor and the sources AI cited for them, shows where AI contradicts your website, and ends in a fix plan. ## Questions ### Can I pay ChatGPT to recommend my business? No. ChatGPT’s answers aren’t for sale. OpenAI shows ads to some users on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans, labelled as ads and kept apart from the answer. Being recommended in the answer itself comes from what ChatGPT can find and confirm about you. ### How long does it take? There’s no fixed time. Changes to your own site can show up within days once crawlers revisit it. Getting named on other sites takes longer, often weeks to months. Check the same questions monthly. ### Does my Google ranking matter for ChatGPT? Partly. ChatGPT runs its own search, so a Google ranking doesn’t carry over one for one, but the pages that rank well for a question are often the ones AI reads. ### Does ChatGPT read my Google reviews? Not as a direct feed. It reads review sites and pages that quote reviews when they come up in its search. Keep your listings complete and current. ## Sources - [OpenAI, “Overview of OpenAI Crawlers”](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) - [OpenAI, “Introducing Businesses in ChatGPT”](https://openai.com/index/introducing-businesses-chatgpt/) - [OpenAI Help Center, “Setting up your business on ChatGPT”](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001635-setting-up-your-business-on-chatgpt) - [FTC, “Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials” (16 CFR 465)](https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/16-cfr-part-465-trade-regulation-rule-use-consumer-reviews-testimonials-final-rule) - [OpenAI Help Center, “Ads in ChatGPT”](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001047-ads-in-chatgpt) ## Related - Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? > AI names the businesses it can find on the pages it trusts. The common reasons a competitor gets named first, and the fix for each one, in order. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/why-ai-recommends-competitors Last updated: 2026-10-22 Usually because your competitor is named on more of the pages ChatGPT reads: directories, “best of” lists, review sites and articles. It can also be that their site states clearly what they do and where, while yours doesn’t, or that AI crawlers can’t reach your site at all. Each cause has a specific fix. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Five common reasons, each with its fix 1. **They’re on the lists AI cites and you aren’t.** Open the sources AI shows for your customer’s question and get listed on them. 2. **Their site states the service and location plainly.** Rewrite your service pages with the answer first. 3. **AI can’t reach your site.** Use the free crawler check. 4. **Their listings agree with each other and yours conflict.** See Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business? 5. **They have more reviews that name the specific service.** Ask real customers; never buy reviews. ## How to check by hand The steps are in How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors? ## What Preferly shows Which competitors 10 AI models name for your customers’ questions, how often, and the sources AI cited for them. The free check shows how many competitors AI names instead of you. The $99 audit that shows who AI recommends instead of you names each one. ## Questions ### Is the competitor paying AI? No. AI answers aren’t sold. Ads in ChatGPT, where they appear, are labelled and kept apart from the answer. ### Will it change if I fix these? Answers vary run to run and take time to reflect new sources. Fix the biggest gap first and check again in a month. ### Can I get a competitor removed? No. Focus on being named, and on correcting anything where AI contradicts your website. ## Sources - [OpenAI, “Overview of OpenAI Crawlers”](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) - [FTC, “Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials” (16 CFR 465)](https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/16-cfr-part-465-trade-regulation-rule-use-consumer-reviews-testimonials-final-rule) - [OpenAI Help Center, “Ads in ChatGPT”](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001047-ads-in-chatgpt) ## Related - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - Which AI visibility audit tools track competitor recommendations? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # What is generative engine optimization (GEO), and does my business need it? > GEO and AEO mean making your business easy for AI to find, read and recommend. What that involves, what’s overhyped, and where a small business should start. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/what-is-generative-engine-optimization Last updated: 2026-10-22 Generative engine optimization, also called GEO or AEO, means making your business easy for AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to find, read, describe correctly and recommend. Most of it is good SEO: crawlable pages, plain facts, structured data and mentions on trusted sites. Start by checking what AI says about you today. Updated October 22, 2026 ## What it is When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude for a business like yours, the answer names a few businesses and describes them. GEO is the work of making sure AI can reach your site, reads your facts correctly, and finds you mentioned on the sites it trusts, so you’re one of the businesses it names and it describes you the way your website does. ## What’s the same as SEO Pages crawlers can reach and read, clear facts in text, and links and mentions from other sites. ## What’s different - Mentions on other sites count for more, because AI often answers from lists, directories and review sites. - Being named in a list matters more than ranking a page. - Accuracy is part of the result: does AI contradict your website? ## What’s overhyped Special files and rewriting everything “for AI”. Google says no special optimization is needed to appear in its AI features: the same practices as for Search apply. See What is an llms.txt file, and do I need one? ## Where to start 1. Crawlers: make sure AI can reach your site. How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? The free crawler check shows where you stand. 2. Facts: your services, area, prices and hours as text on your own pages. 3. Listings: the same facts on every profile and directory. 4. Mentions: get named on the lists and review sites AI cites. How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? 5. Measure: ask AI your customers’ questions and see who it names. The free check does this for you. What is a GEO audit (or AEO audit), and do I need one? ## Questions ### Is GEO different from SEO? Mostly no. The foundations are the same. The difference is in what you measure: whether AI names you and gets your facts right, not only where a page ranks. ### Do I need to hire a GEO agency? Not to start. Check AI crawler access, fix what AI contradicts on your website, and test your customers’ questions yourself. ### How do I measure GEO? Ask AI the same customer questions on a schedule and track whether you’re named, your position, and which sources it cites. ## Sources - [Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) ## Related - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - What is the best AI visibility audit tool to see how language models rank my brand? - What is an llms.txt file, and do I need one? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? > Structured data won’t get you recommended on its own, but it states your business facts in a form any crawler can read. What to add first and how to check it. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/schema-markup-for-ai-search Last updated: 2026-10-22 It helps AI tools and search engines read your facts correctly, but it won’t get you recommended on its own, and Google says no special markup is needed for its AI features. Schema.org markup states your name, address, hours, services and prices without guesswork. Add markup for your business type that matches what your page shows. Updated October 22, 2026 ## What it is A block of JSON-LD in your page that describes your business with schema.org types. Pick the most specific type that fits, such as Dentist, LegalService, Restaurant or Plumber, rather than a general one. ## What to include first - `name`, `url` and `logo`. - `address` and `geo`. - `telephone`. - `openingHoursSpecification`. - `areaServed`. - `priceRange` or an `Offer`. - `sameAs`, linking to your profiles. A short example for a fictional plumber: ``` ``` ## Rules - It must match what the page shows. - Never invent reviews or ratings. - One Organization per site. - Check what your site builder already adds, so you don’t publish two versions that disagree. ## Check it Paste your page into the Schema Markup Validator (validator.schema.org) and Google’s Rich Results Test. To see which business details yours includes, and get the code for the missing ones, use the free business schema checker. ## What it won’t do It won’t replace being named on other sites, and it won’t fix a robots.txt rule or a bot check that keeps AI out. In our study of 3,693 small and local business websites, 5.8% showed our identified crawler a bot check. The free crawler check shows whether either applies to you. Related reading: why a bot check hides a small business site from AI, how many small business sites block AI crawlers and how many small business websites aren’t fully open to AI. ## Preferly’s fix plan The full report’s fix plan writes the JSON-LD for you, built only from facts on your site. Start with the free check. ## Questions ### Does ChatGPT read schema markup? Its crawlers fetch your HTML, which includes the markup. OpenAI doesn’t document how much weight it gives it, so treat markup as a way to be read correctly, not a ranking trick. ### Which type should a small business use? LocalBusiness, or the most specific type below it that fits, such as Dentist, LegalService, Restaurant or Plumber, with your name, address, phone, hours and website. ### Can structured data hurt me? Only if it says something your page doesn’t. Keep it matching the visible text. ### Does FAQ markup still help? Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in 2026, but the markup still states your questions and answers plainly for other tools. ## Sources - [schema.org, LocalBusiness](https://schema.org/LocalBusiness) - [Google, “Local business structured data”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business) - [Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) ## Related - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - What is an llms.txt file, and do I need one? - See an example report - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Meta’s AI assistant is now a shopping channel. Does it recommend your business? > Meta says shopping is the top use of its Muse AI agent, with average purchases over $200. What Muse reads, and how to make sure it can read your business. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/meta-muse-shopping Last updated: 2026-10-22 Meta says shopping is the most common use of Muse, its AI agent: over 25% of weekly users shop with it, and the average purchase is over $200, travel included. Muse researches and compares options before it buys. If it can’t read your website, or AI contradicts your website, you’re harder to pick. Updated October 22, 2026 ## What Meta said on October 21 Meta launched Muse, a personal AI agent, on September 8. It works in its own app and in WhatsApp. On Meta’s third-quarter earnings call on October 21, 2026, Mark Zuckerberg and CFO Susan Li gave the first usage numbers: - **Sign-ups:** “In just a month and a half, more than 10 million people in the US and Canada have set up Muse personal agents” (Zuckerberg). - **Daily use:** “About 25% of people who have set up Muse use it on any given day” (Zuckerberg). - **Shopping comes first:** “The most common use case for Muse is shopping” (Zuckerberg). Li put it at “over 25% of Muse weekly actives”. - **Large purchases:** “an average purchase size over $200” (Zuckerberg). Asked whether that includes travel, he said it does, and that travel planning is another top use. - **Demand beyond forecasts:** “in the first week we had to work with Stripe to raise credit limits since the volumes were above what any of us expected” (Zuckerberg). - **Small businesses:** Meta estimates “at least 500 million self-identified small businesses” use its apps, and says Muse “could help these businesses acquire customers” (Li). These are Meta’s own figures, from the call transcript on its investor site. ## Why this matters for a business A search engine gives a shopper ten links, and the shopper picks one. An agent like Muse does the picking. Li described it on the follow-up call: Muse is “doing proactive research for you, researching, providing recommendations, researching alternatives, helping you complete a purchase.” An agent “can compare relevant options, it can answer questions, it can help them complete the purchase.” When the shopper only sees a shortlist, a business the agent couldn’t read or didn’t trust never gets compared. A business whose facts it got wrong may be compared on the wrong price, hours or service area. And shopping isn’t limited to online stores. Zuckerberg said the purchase figure includes travel, and Meta’s launch post lists booking travel among Muse’s tasks. Restaurants, clinics, contractors and hotels sit in the same answers as retailers. ## What Muse draws on Meta hasn’t published how Muse chooses what to recommend. What it has said: - **Muse has its own browser.** It “runs on Muse Secure VM, a dedicated secure computer with its own browser”, and “it can open a browser, fill out forms” for the user. - **Meta reads websites for Meta AI.** Meta’s crawler documentation says that allowing Meta-WebIndexer in robots.txt “helps us cite and link to your content in Meta AI’s responses”. Meta-ExternalFetcher fetches pages a user asks for, including “helping AI navigate websites to complete tasks for users”, and may bypass robots.txt. - **Product catalogs feed it.** Shopify says products from its stores “are shared with Meta by default through Shopify Catalog”. Shoppers can also check out inside Muse, and Shopify says Shop Pay “can display as a wallet or checkout option for customers in Muse”. - **Agents will talk to agents.** Meta previewed a Personal Agent Protocol with Sierra, Walmart, Stripe and Shopify. It defines how a shopper’s agent talks to a business’s agent. Li said “many experiences will remain AI assisted rather than fully autonomous” in the near term. In practice, most local and service businesses will be found through what Meta’s systems can read on the web: your own site and the listings and pages that describe you. ## What to do now 1. **Let Meta’s crawlers in.** Check that your robots.txt doesn’t block Meta-WebIndexer, Meta-ExternalAgent or Meta-ExternalFetcher. A web firewall’s bot challenge or a broken HTTPS certificate can also stop an agent’s browser even when robots.txt allows it. The free AI crawler check reads your robots.txt and homepage the way AI crawlers do. 2. **Put the facts an agent compares in plain text.** That means what you sell or do, prices or a price range, service area, hours, booking or ordering steps, and return or cancellation policy. Put them on your own pages as text, not only in images or PDFs. 3. **Give every product or service its own page.** An agent comparing options needs a page it can open for each one. 4. **If you sell on Shopify, check the Meta channel.** It’s under Sales channels > Agentic > Meta AI and Muse (Agentic Storefronts) in your Shopify admin. Decide whether you want catalog sharing and direct checkout on, rather than leaving the default unexamined. 5. **Keep your facts identical everywhere.** Your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook and Instagram pages, Yelp and industry directories should agree. When they don’t, AI contradicts your website, and a shopper may never check which one is right. See why AI gets business hours wrong. 6. **Ask the questions your customers ask.** Open Muse and ask the questions without your business name, such as “best family dentist near [your town]” or “where to buy [your product] under $200”. Note who it names and what it says about you. ## What Preferly checks, and what it doesn’t Preferly’s $99 report asks 10 AI models, including Meta Muse Spark, the model Muse runs on by default, what they tell customers about your business. It shows where AI contradicts your website and gives the fixes. It checks what the models say in their answers. It doesn’t test the Muse app’s shopping, its product catalog or its checkout. The Muse agent itself isn’t asked: the full report covers it through Meta Muse Spark, the model behind it. The free AI crawler check needs no email. It checks whether 10+ AI crawlers, Meta’s included, may read your site. ## Questions ### What is Meta Muse? Muse is Meta’s personal AI agent, launched in September 2026 and available in the US and Canada. It works in its own app and in WhatsApp. It can research, compare options, fill out forms and, with your approval, make purchases. By default it runs on Meta’s Muse Spark model. ### How many people shop with Muse? Meta said on its October 21, 2026 earnings call that more than 10 million people had set up Muse. It said shopping is the most common use: over 25% of weekly active users shop with it, and the average purchase is over $200, travel included. ### Does Muse shopping matter if I don’t run an online store? Yes. Meta says the purchase figure includes travel, and Muse books as well as buys. When someone asks Muse to find a restaurant, a contractor or a clinic, it relies on what it can read about local businesses. ### Can I pay to have Muse recommend my business? Not today. Meta says it plans to charge businesses a fee on transactions Muse helps complete. For now it makes money from Muse only through subscriptions. Meta hasn’t published how Muse ranks businesses, so make sure it can read accurate facts about yours. ### Should I block Meta’s AI crawlers? Only if you don’t want Meta AI to use your content. Meta says allowing Meta-WebIndexer helps it cite and link to your content in Meta AI’s answers. Meta-ExternalAgent is used for training and indexing. Meta-ExternalFetcher fetches pages a user asks for and may ignore robots.txt. ### Does Preferly check what Muse recommends? Partly. The full report asks Meta Muse Spark, the model behind Muse, your customers’ questions and shows where AI contradicts your website. It doesn’t test the Muse app’s shopping or checkout. The Muse agent itself isn’t asked: the full report covers it through Meta Muse Spark, the model behind it. ## Sources - [Meta, “Third Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call” transcript](https://investor.atmeta.com/files/content_files/META-Q3-2026-Earnings-Call-Transcript.pdf) - [Meta, “Third Quarter 2026 Follow-Up Call” transcript](https://investor.atmeta.com/files/content_files/META-Q3-2026-Follow-Up-Call-Transcript.pdf) - [Meta Newsroom, “Introducing Muse: The World’s First Personal AI Agent Built for Everyone”](https://about.fb.com/news/2026/09/introducing-muse-personal-ai-agent/) - [Meta for Developers, “Meta Web Crawlers”](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers) - [Shopify Changelog, “Meta is now an AI channel in your admin”](https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/meta-is-now-an-ai-channel-in-your-admin) - [Shopify Help Center, “Selling on Meta”](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/meta) - [CNBC, “Meta (META) Q3 2026 earnings report: Live updates”](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/21/meta-earnings-q3-2026-live-updates.html) ## Related - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? - How can I check if AI chatbots are recommending my competitors instead of my company? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? > AI answers mix web search, directories, review sites, maps and training data. Which sources matter, how to see them, and what to do when AI contradicts you. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/where-ai-gets-business-information Last updated: 2026-10-22 From two places: what a model learned in training, and what its web search finds when someone asks. Search results often come from directories, review sites, maps, “best of” lists and your own website. When AI contradicts your website, it’s usually repeating one of those other sources, so find it and correct it. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Training vs search What a model learned in training is months old. Its web search is live, but only for pages the tool can reach. In our study, about 1 in 7 small business websites wasn’t fully open to AI crawlers. ## Typical sources for a local business - Your website. - Google Business Profile, for Google’s own products. - Bing Places and Apple Business Connect. - Yelp and other review sites. - Industry directories. - Local news and “best of” lists. - Reddit threads. Not every tool uses the same search, and which one a tool uses can change. One example: Anthropic lists Brave Search as a web search provider for Claude. Brave keeps its own index and won’t crawl a page Googlebot can’t, so a page blocked for Googlebot can be missing from Claude’s search too. Search `site:yourdomain.com` on search.brave.com to see what it has. ## How to see the sources Turn search on, ask the question and open the cited links. Or ask: “Which sources did you use?” To see which sites AI cited for businesses in your category, use Where to get listed. ## When AI contradicts your website It’s usually repeating an old listing, a directory, a review, or a business with a similar name. Open every cited link and note which one says the wrong thing. Fix what you control first: your own site, in plain text and structured data, then your listings, then ask third-party sites to update. For a similar-named business, say clearly on your homepage and About page who you are and where. ## Who decides what’s right Sometimes your own site is the one that’s out of date. Preferly flags a contradiction only when it can quote the part of your website that disagrees; you decide which source to update. ## What Preferly shows The full report lists the sources AI cited for you and for your competitors, and every checkable claim where AI contradicts your website, with the evidence. The free check shows up to two contradictions. ## Questions ### Does ChatGPT use Google? ChatGPT runs its own search and works with search partners. It isn’t Google Search, so your Google ranking doesn’t carry over one for one. ### Does Claude use Google? Not for its web search. Anthropic lists Brave Search as a web search provider for Claude, so check your site on search.brave.com as well. If a page is missing, make sure Googlebot can crawl it, then ask Brave to fetch it at search.brave.com/submit-url. ### Can I make ChatGPT forget wrong information? Not directly. You change what it reads. Answers with search on change when the sources change. ### AI confuses my business with another one. What do I do? State your full name, location and what you do on your homepage and About page, use the same name on every listing, and add structured data with your address and website. ### Why does AI mention a business that closed? Training data and old listings outlive the business. The fix is the same as for wrong hours. ## Sources - [OpenAI, “Overview of OpenAI Crawlers”](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) - [Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) - [Bing Places for Business](https://www.bingplaces.com/) - [Apple Business](https://business.apple.com/) - [Anthropic, “Subprocessors” (Trust Center)](https://trust.anthropic.com/subprocessors) - [Brave Search, “Brave Search Crawler”](https://search.brave.com/help/brave-search-crawler) ## Related - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - How Preferly checks AI answers - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? > When ChatGPT or Gemini gives old hours, a closed status or the wrong phone number, it’s usually repeating an outdated source. How to find it and fix it. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-wrong-business-hours Last updated: 2026-10-22 AI usually repeats an outdated source: an old directory listing, a duplicate map listing, holiday hours never removed, or hours shown only in an image on your site. Find which source it used, correct it there and on your own site, and keep your hours identical everywhere. Then ask again after a week or two. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Where wrong hours come from - Directories and data aggregators that copied your old hours. - Your own old pages and holiday notices. - A duplicate or unclaimed map listing. - Hours shown only in an image or a PDF. - A page AI can’t load because of a bot check. The free crawler check shows whether yours does. - A model’s training data from months ago. ## Find the source Ask the AI tool, with search on, “What are [business]’s hours?”, then open its sources. If it shows none, ask “Where did you find that?” To see whether AI can read your hours on your own site, use the free business info check. ## Fix it, in order 1. Your website: hours as text, holiday hours with dates, and `openingHoursSpecification` in your LocalBusiness markup (Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers?). 2. Google Business Profile, including special hours. 3. Bing Places and Apple Business Connect. 4. Yelp, delivery and booking apps, and your industry directories. 5. Remove or merge duplicate listings. ## “AI says we’re closed” Look for a “permanently closed” mark on a map listing, an old address, or a second listing at a former location. ## How Preferly helps The fact check compares what AI said with your website and Google Business Profile, and shows a contradiction only when it can quote the line that disagrees. The free check shows up to two contradictions, the most important first: hours, prices, location, services. ## Questions ### I fixed my Google profile. Why does AI still show old hours? AI may be reading another source, or an older copy of a page. Check the sources it cites, fix those too, and give it a few days. ### Can I report wrong information to ChatGPT? You can use the thumbs-down on an answer, but it won’t fix the source. Correcting the pages AI reads is what changes later answers. ### Why does Gemini say something different from ChatGPT? They search different indexes and weigh sources differently, so one can find your new hours while the other repeats an old listing. ### How often should I check? After any change to hours, address or phone, then monthly. ## Sources - [Google Business Profile Help, “Edit your Business Profile” (Hours)](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3039617) - [Google Business Profile Help, “How to set Special hours”](https://support.google.com/business/answer/6303076) - [Bing Places for Business](https://www.bingplaces.com/) - [Apple Business](https://business.apple.com/) - [schema.org, LocalBusiness](https://schema.org/LocalBusiness) ## Related - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - How do I get my business into Google AI Overviews, and fix what they say? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How can my restaurant show up when people ask AI where to eat? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How do I get my business into Google AI Overviews, and fix what they say? > Google says AI Overviews draw on pages that are indexed and eligible for a snippet. How to be included, and how to fix an Overview that contradicts your site. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/google-ai-overviews Last updated: 2026-10-22 Google says a page needs to be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear as a link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, with no separate sign-up. To fix a wrong Overview, you can’t edit it: send feedback, then correct what it was built from, your Business Profile, your website and the pages it cites. Updated October 22, 2026 ## What Google says To appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page has to be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet. In Google’s words: “There are no additional technical requirements.” Google also says you don’t need special structured data or new AI text files. ## What controls it - Googlebot being allowed in your robots.txt. - The page being indexed. - Snippet controls: `nosnippet`, `data-nosnippet`, `max-snippet` and `noindex`. ## What doesn’t control it - Google-Extended, which covers Gemini training and grounding, not Search inclusion. See Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot? - llms.txt: Google says its AI features don’t need it. See What is an llms.txt file? ## What helps a page get picked - The answer in the first lines. - Facts as text, not only in images. - Structured data that matches the visible page. - Being the page that ranks for the question. ## When an AI Overview contradicts your website 1. Report it with the feedback option under the Overview, and say what’s wrong. 2. Open the cited links. Fix your Google Business Profile first, then your site’s text and structured data, then ask third-party pages to update. 3. Ask Google to recrawl: in Search Console, use URL Inspection, then Request indexing. 4. Search again after a few days. ## An honest note Preferly doesn’t check Google AI Overviews or AI Mode yet. Our check asks 10 AI models through their APIs, including Gemini, and the fixes it suggests to your site and listings are the same ones that feed AI Overviews. The free crawler check tells you whether Google-Extended, Google’s AI crawler switch, is allowed in your robots.txt. ## Questions ### Does blocking Google-Extended remove me from AI Overviews? No. Google says Google-Extended doesn’t affect inclusion in Google Search. AI Overviews are part of Search and follow Googlebot and snippet controls. ### How long does an AI Overview take to update? Google doesn’t say. It changes when its sources and index change, often within days to weeks. ### Can I opt my site out of AI Overviews? Only with snippet controls like nosnippet, which also limit your normal search results. Most businesses shouldn’t. ### Does Preferly check AI Overviews? Not yet. Today we ask 10 AI models through their APIs: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude Opus, Grok, Meta Muse Spark, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, NVIDIA Nemotron and GLM. Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot aren’t covered yet. Some AI agents are covered through the models behind them; see the AI agents. The methodology lists exactly who we ask. ## Sources - [Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) - [Google, “Google’s common crawlers”](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-common-crawlers) - [Google Search Central, “Introduction to robots.txt”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro) - [Google Search Central, “Ask Google to recrawl your URLs”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/ask-google-to-recrawl) ## Related - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? > Blocking GPTBot opts you out of OpenAI training, not ChatGPT search. How to keep content out of training and still appear in AI answers, with a robots.txt. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/should-i-block-ai-crawlers Last updated: 2026-10-22 It depends on what you want to block. Blocking GPTBot opts you out of OpenAI’s training, not ChatGPT search. If you want customers to find you through AI, keep the search and user-requested crawlers open, such as OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User. You can block training crawlers separately without leaving AI answers. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Two different decisions Some AI crawlers collect pages to train models. Others fetch pages to answer a question someone is asking right now, in search or because a person asked for that page. Each company uses a separate name for each job, so you can decide them separately. | Company | Training | Answers (search and user-requested visits) | | --- | --- | --- | | OpenAI | GPTBot | OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User | | Anthropic | ClaudeBot | Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User | | Perplexity | None | PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User | | Google | Google-Extended (Gemini training and grounding; doesn’t affect Google Search) | Google Search uses Googlebot | | Apple | Applebot-Extended | | | Meta | Meta-ExternalAgent | | ## When blocking training makes sense When your content is the product, such as writing, courses or original photos, or when your industry’s rules restrict reuse. ## When it hurts you A local business whose website is mostly facts (services, hours, prices) gains little from blocking training, and can lose answers if the wrong names are blocked. The real risk is a broad rule or a bot check that blocks the answer crawlers too. ## Check what’s blocking you today Your CDN or a security plugin may have added rules you didn’t write. See Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers from my website? ## How to do it Paste this into your robots.txt to stay in AI answers and opt out of training: ``` # Allow AI search and user fetches; opt out of training User-agent: OAI-SearchBot User-agent: ChatGPT-User User-agent: Claude-SearchBot User-agent: Claude-User User-agent: PerplexityBot User-agent: Perplexity-User Allow: / User-agent: GPTBot User-agent: ClaudeBot User-agent: Google-Extended Disallow: / ``` Only block what you mean to block. Changes take effect when each crawler next reads the file; OpenAI says about 24 hours for search. To choose crawler by crawler, use the free AI robots.txt generator. ## Check yours The free AI crawler check reads your robots.txt for 10+ AI crawlers and loads your homepage the way they do. No email. Related reading: which AI crawlers small business sites block most, why a bot check hides a small business site from AI and how many small business websites aren’t fully open to AI. In our study of 3,693 small and local business websites, 3.2% blocked at least one major AI crawler in robots.txt, most often GPTBot, and 2.1% blocked training crawlers only. Far more sites, 5.8%, showed an identified crawler a bot check. Read the study. ## Questions ### Does blocking GPTBot hurt my Google ranking? No. GPTBot is OpenAI’s. Google Search uses Googlebot, and Google says Google-Extended doesn’t affect Search either. ### Will blocking AI crawlers stop my content being used? It asks compliant crawlers not to fetch it. It doesn’t remove what was collected before, and it doesn’t stop bots that ignore robots.txt. ### Does ChatGPT-User follow robots.txt? OpenAI says ChatGPT-User acts for a user, so robots.txt rules may not apply. A firewall or bot check can still block it. ### What do most small businesses do? In our study, 97% of small business sites with a readable robots.txt left every major AI crawler open. See the study. ## Sources - [OpenAI, “Overview of OpenAI Crawlers”](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) - [Anthropic, “Does Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler?”](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler) - [Perplexity, “Perplexity Crawlers”](https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/perplexity-crawlers) - [Google, “Google’s common crawlers”](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-common-crawlers) ## Related - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers from my website? - How many small business websites block AI crawlers? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? > The robots.txt names that decide whether ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini can read your site, how rules are read, and what else can block AI. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/allow-ai-crawlers-in-robots-txt Last updated: 2026-10-22 Make sure your robots.txt doesn’t disallow the AI crawlers you want, and that no bot check turns them away. With no rules for them, they’re allowed. OpenAI says sites that block OAI-SearchBot won’t appear in ChatGPT search answers, while blocking GPTBot only opts out of training. Claude and Perplexity use separate names the same way. Updated October 22, 2026 ## The names, by company and job These are the 14 names our free crawler check reads in your robots.txt. | Company | Name | What it’s for | What blocking it does | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | OpenAI | GPTBot | Training | Opts you out of OpenAI’s model training. ChatGPT search isn’t affected. | | OpenAI | OAI-SearchBot | Search | OpenAI says your site won’t be shown in ChatGPT search answers. | | OpenAI | ChatGPT-User | A visit a user asked for | OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply, because a person asked. | | Anthropic | ClaudeBot | Training | Opts you out of Anthropic’s model training. | | Anthropic | Claude-User | A visit a user asked for | Claude can’t fetch your pages when someone asks it to. | | Anthropic | Claude-SearchBot | Search | Claude’s search answers may use your site less, or less accurately. | | Perplexity | PerplexityBot | Search | Perplexity won’t surface and link your pages in its search results. | | Perplexity | Perplexity-User | A visit a user asked for | Perplexity says it generally ignores robots.txt, because a person asked. | | Google | Google-Extended | Gemini training and grounding | Opts out of Gemini training and grounding. Google Search isn’t affected. | | Apple | Applebot-Extended | Training | Opts you out of Apple’s AI training. | | Meta | Meta-ExternalAgent | Training and indexing | Keeps Meta’s AI crawler out. | | Meta | Meta-ExternalFetcher | A visit a user asked for | Meta AI can’t fetch your page when someone asks it to. | | Meta | Meta-WebIndexer | Search | Meta says allowing it helps Meta AI cite and link to your content in its answers. | | Hark | HarkBot | Crawler for Hark’s AI agent | Keeps Hark’s crawler out. | ## Where robots.txt lives At the root of your site: `yoursite.com/robots.txt`. Open it in a browser to see yours. How to edit it: - WordPress: your SEO plugin’s robots.txt editor, or the file in your site’s root folder. - Squarespace: it writes the file for you; check its crawler settings for an option that blocks AI crawlers. - Wix: the robots.txt editor in its SEO settings. - Shopify: the `robots.txt.liquid` template in your theme. - Webflow: the robots.txt field in your site’s SEO settings. ## How rules are read - A crawler follows the group with its own name, if there is one, and otherwise `User-agent: *`. - Inside that group, the longest matching path wins. - With no file at all (a 404), everything is allowed. ## The lines to add You don’t need any, but if you want to be explicit, this group lets the answer crawlers in: ``` User-agent: OAI-SearchBot User-agent: ChatGPT-User User-agent: Claude-SearchBot User-agent: Claude-User User-agent: PerplexityBot User-agent: Perplexity-User Allow: / ``` To opt out of training as well, see Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot? To write the lines for your own choice of crawlers, use the free AI robots.txt generator. ## Common mistakes - `Disallow: /` under `User-agent: *`, left over from a staging site. - A security plugin or CDN setting that added AI blocks you didn’t write. - Blocking the search crawlers while meaning to block training only. ## User-requested visits ChatGPT-User and Perplexity-User fetch a page because a person asked for it. OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply to ChatGPT-User. Changes also take time: OpenAI says about 24 hours for search. ## robots.txt isn’t the only gate A bot check (Cloudflare, SiteGround, Sucuri, Imperva and others) can turn AI away even when robots.txt lets it in. In our study of 3,693 small and local business websites, 5.8% showed our identified crawler a bot check. Our crawler check fetches your homepage as PreferlyBot and reports any bot check. See Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers from my website? ## Questions ### If I don’t have a robots.txt, can AI crawlers read my site? Yes. With no robots.txt, crawlers that follow the standard treat everything as allowed. ### Does “User-agent: *” cover AI crawlers? Yes, unless a group names the crawler. A crawler follows the most specific group that names it. ### Do AI crawlers obey robots.txt? The major AI companies say their crawlers follow it. It’s a request, not a lock, so a bot that ignores it isn’t stopped by it. ### Do I need to list every AI crawler? No. Only add groups if you want different rules for some of them. ## Sources - [RFC 9309, “Robots Exclusion Protocol”](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9309) - [OpenAI, “Overview of OpenAI Crawlers”](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) - [Anthropic, “Does Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler?”](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler) - [Perplexity, “Perplexity Crawlers”](https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/perplexity-crawlers) - [Google, “Google’s common crawlers”](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-common-crawlers) - [Meta for Developers, “Meta Web Crawlers”](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers) ## Related - Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? - Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers from my website? - What is an llms.txt file, and do I need one? - How do I get my business into Google AI Overviews, and fix what they say? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers from my website? > Cloudflare can block AI crawlers through its AI bot settings, a robots.txt preference or a bot check. How to tell which is on, and how to check yours free. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/is-cloudflare-blocking-ai-crawlers Last updated: 2026-10-22 It might be. Cloudflare can block AI crawlers through its Search, Training and Agent settings, publish a no-training preference in your robots.txt, or show a bot check to automated visitors. Since September 15, 2026, new domains get new defaults that block some AI crawlers. Check your robots.txt and your Cloudflare settings. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Three ways Cloudflare can turn AI away 1. **AI crawler settings.** Separate controls for Search, Agent and Training crawlers, each set to allow, block on pages with ads, or block on all pages. A block refuses the request at Cloudflare’s network, whatever robots.txt says. 2. **A robots.txt preference.** Cloudflare can add a section to your robots.txt (“BEGIN Cloudflare Managed content”), now generated from your Search, Agent and Training settings, with Content Signals that state your preference. On its own it records your choice; it doesn’t block anything. 3. **Bot Fight Mode and challenges.** A check page (“Just a moment...”) shown to automated visitors instead of your site. ## The September 2026 change Cloudflare replaced its single “Block AI bots” switch with the three controls above. Since September 15, 2026, new domains start with Search allowed and Training and Agent crawlers blocked on pages that show ads. A setting that blocks AI training can also block crawlers used for both search and training; Cloudflare’s “Disallow AI Training” option refuses training and keeps you in search. ## How to tell from the outside Open `yoursite.com/robots.txt`: a “BEGIN Cloudflare Managed content” block means the preference is on. Our free crawler check reports a Cloudflare bot check if your homepage answers with one. ## How to change it In the Cloudflare dashboard, open your domain, go to Security, then Settings, and find the AI bot policies. Allow the Search and Agent crawlers if you want AI answers to use your site. Bot Fight Mode is in the same settings, under bot traffic. ## Your web host may use Cloudflare for you Many site builders and hosts run their sites through Cloudflare, and the setting may be theirs, not yours. Ask their support. ## Other bot-check vendors Akamai, DataDome, HUMAN (PerimeterX), Imperva, Sucuri, SiteGround and AWS WAF work in a similar way: a check page for automated visitors, set by your host or your security settings. In our study of 3,693 small and local business websites, 40% were served through Cloudflare, but only 3.0% showed our identified crawler a Cloudflare bot check. SiteGround’s bot check was almost as common, at 2.7%. Read the study. ## Questions ### Does Cloudflare block Googlebot? Not by default. Search engine crawlers such as Googlebot are on Cloudflare’s verified bots list. But a setting that blocks AI training can also block crawlers used for both search and training. To keep search, use Disallow AI Training instead. ### I didn’t change anything. Why is AI blocked? A new domain’s defaults, a plan change, or your host’s settings can add AI blocks. Check robots.txt and the bot settings. ### What are Content Signals? A Cloudflare-proposed line in robots.txt that states whether content may be used for search, AI input or AI training. It records your preference. It doesn’t block anything. ### Will allowing AI crawlers slow my site? AI crawlers fetch far fewer pages from a small business site than search engines do. You can allow the search and user crawlers and still block training ones. ## Sources - [Cloudflare docs, “Block AI Bots” (AI bot policies)](https://developers.cloudflare.com/bots/additional-configurations/block-ai-bots/) - [Cloudflare docs, managed robots.txt](https://developers.cloudflare.com/bots/additional-configurations/managed-robots-txt/) - [Cloudflare docs, “Verified bots”](https://developers.cloudflare.com/bots/concepts/bot/verified-bots/) - [Cloudflare changelog, “New options to manage AI traffic” (2026-07-01)](https://developers.cloudflare.com/changelog/post/2026-07-01-ai-traffic-options/) - [Cloudflare press release, 2026](https://www.cloudflare.com/press/press-releases/2026/cloudflare-helps-end-the-search-or-ai-training-tradeoff/) ## Related - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? - How many small business websites block AI crawlers? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # What is an llms.txt file, and do I need one? > llms.txt is a proposed Markdown file that points AI tools to your key pages. What it does, what Google says about it, and when it’s worth adding. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/what-is-llms-txt Last updated: 2026-10-22 llms.txt is a proposed Markdown file at yoursite.com/llms.txt that summarizes your business and links your key pages for AI tools. It isn’t a standard. Google says you don’t need it for its AI features, and the major AI crawlers aren’t documented as reading it. It’s quick to add, but letting AI crawlers in matters more. Updated October 22, 2026 ## What goes in it A heading with your name, a one-line summary in a quote block, then sections of links. A short example for a fictional bakery: ``` # Northgate Bakery > Neighborhood bakery in Northgate. Sourdough, pastries and custom cakes. > Open Tuesday to Sunday, 7 am to 3 pm. ## Pages - [Menu and prices](https://example.com/menu): breads, pastries, cakes - [Custom cakes](https://example.com/cakes): how to order, lead times - [Visit us](https://example.com/visit): address, hours, parking ``` ## What the evidence says - Google says you don’t need new machine-readable files or AI text files to appear in its AI features. - AI coding tools and some agents may read an llms.txt when someone points them at it. - No published study shows that it changes whether AI cites a site. ## When it’s worth it When you have developer docs or a large catalog, when your site builder makes one for you, or when it takes you five minutes. Never as a replacement for pages people and crawlers can read. To check yours against the format, or write one, use the free llms.txt checker. ## What matters more - Letting AI crawlers in: How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? The free crawler check shows where you stand. In our study, about 1 in 7 small business websites wasn’t fully open to AI crawlers. - Your facts as text on your pages, not only in images or PDFs. - Structured data: Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? ## What to put in it, if you add one A one-paragraph description, your pricing, contact details and links to the 5 to 10 pages that answer your customers’ questions. Nothing you wouldn’t put on the website. ## Ours Preferly publishes one at [/llms.txt](https://www.preferly.ai/llms.txt), if you want an example. ## Questions ### Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt? No. robots.txt says what crawlers may fetch. llms.txt is a summary for AI tools to read, and it can’t allow or block anything. ### Will llms.txt get me into ChatGPT? There’s no evidence it does on its own. ChatGPT search relies on OAI-SearchBot crawling your pages. ### My website builder made one for me. Should I keep it? Yes, if what it says is accurate. Check it against your site. ### Does the Preferly report include an llms.txt? Yes. The full report’s fix plan can include one built from facts on your site, along with the fixes that matter more. ## Sources - [llmstxt.org, the proposal](https://llmstxt.org/) - [Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) ## Related - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How do I get my business into Google AI Overviews, and fix what they say? - Can you recommend an AI visibility audit tool that provides code fixes to improve my rankings? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my dental practice show up when patients ask AI for a dentist? > Patients now ask AI for a dentist nearby who takes their insurance. What AI reads to answer, and what a practice can fix on its site and listings. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-dentists Last updated: 2026-10-22 AI recommends practices it can find and confirm: ones whose sites list services, insurance accepted, hours, emergency availability and location in plain text, with consistent listings and reviews on the sites AI reads. Make sure AI crawlers aren’t blocked, since dental sites often sit behind strict bot settings. Then check what AI says. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Questions patients ask AI - “Emergency dentist open Saturday near [area]” - “Dentist that takes [insurer] in [city]” - “Best pediatric dentist in [city]” - “How much is a crown at a dentist in [city]” - “Sedation dentist near me” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs from your site - A page for each service. - The insurance plans you accept, as text. - Whether you see emergencies, and when. - Each dentist’s credentials, as you state them on your site. - Prices or price ranges, where you publish them. - `Dentist` markup with your name, address, phone and hours. See Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? ## Listings Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, your insurers’ provider directories and dental association directories. Keep the same name, address, phone and hours on all of them. ## Bot settings Practice-website providers and security tools sometimes challenge every automated visitor, which can turn AI away too. The free crawler check shows whether yours does. ## Reviews Ask real patients. Never offer anything in return for positive reviews: the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews prohibits it. ## Board rules Follow your state dental board’s advertising rules for anything you publish. ## Booking AI agents that book for customers are coming soon. A booking or quote form that works without a login or CAPTCHA will matter when they arrive. ## What our study found In our study of 287 dental practice websites, checked in October 2026: - 84% were fully open to AI crawlers. - 8.4% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 3.8% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 72% of the 242 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 174 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (46%), Squarespace (5.8%), Webflow (4.5%). Check yours. In our study, 8.4% of the 287 dental practices we checked showed an identified crawler a bot check, among the highest of the 14 categories. Check yours. ## Questions ### Should my insurance list be on my website? Yes, as text. “Takes [insurance]” is one of the most common ways patients narrow a search, and AI can only repeat it if it can read it. ### Does AI use my insurer’s directory? It can. Insurers’ provider directories are among the pages AI may read when someone asks for a dentist who takes their plan. Check that your listing there is current and matches your website. ### Why does AI list a dentist who retired? Usually it’s repeating an old source: a directory, an old team page or a listing nobody updated. Ask for that source to be updated or removed, and keep your team page current. The steps are the same as for wrong hours. ### Can I see what AI says about my practice for free? Yes. The free check asks 3 AI models 5 questions a new patient might ask and shows whether they name your practice, in about a minute. ## Sources - [schema.org, Dentist](https://schema.org/Dentist) - [Google, “Local business structured data”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business) - [FTC, “Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials” (16 CFR 465)](https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/16-cfr-part-465-trade-regulation-rule-use-consumer-reviews-testimonials-final-rule) ## Related - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How can my practice show up when patients ask AI for a doctor accepting new patients? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my law firm show up when people ask AI for a lawyer? > People ask AI which lawyer to call for their exact problem. What AI reads before it names a firm, and what a firm can fix on its site and listings. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-lawyers Last updated: 2026-10-22 AI names firms it can match to the exact legal problem and place. That means a page per practice area, the courts and counties you cover, attorney bios and contact details in plain text, and listings on the legal directories AI reads. Make sure your site loads for automated visitors, then check what AI says. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Questions people ask AI - “DUI lawyer in [county] who offers free consultations” - “Best divorce attorney in [city] for high-asset cases” - “Do I need a lawyer for a car accident in [state]” - “Immigration lawyer who speaks Spanish in [city]” - “What does a lawyer charge for a will in [city]” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs - A page for each practice area that answers clients’ common questions. - The jurisdictions and courts you cover. - The languages you work in. - Your consultation terms, and your fee structure where you publish it. - Attorney bios with credentials. - `LegalService` markup with your name, address, phone and hours. See Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? ## Listings Google Business Profile, Bing Places, your state bar’s directory, legal directories and local bar associations. ## Accuracy matters more here AI can mix up attorneys with similar names, or list a former partner. Find and correct the sources it repeats: Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? Also make sure your site loads for automated visitors; the free crawler check shows whether it does. ## Bar rules Follow your state bar’s advertising rules for anything you publish. ## What our study found In our study of 243 law firm websites, checked in October 2026: - 84% were fully open to AI crawlers. - 9.1% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 5.3% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 72% of the 206 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 149 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (59%), GoDaddy (4.9%), Wix (4.4%). Check yours. In our study, 9.1% of the 243 law firms we checked showed an identified crawler a bot check, among the highest of the 14 categories. Check yours. ## Questions ### Do legal directories matter for AI answers? Yes. AI often cites legal directories and review sites when it names a firm. ### Should I publish case results? Only where your professional rules allow it. Clear practice areas and credentials matter more for AI. ### Why does AI name a firm that doesn’t handle my practice area? Usually because that firm’s pages or directory listings mention the area, even in passing, while yours don’t state it clearly. Give each practice area its own page, and list it the same way on your directory profiles. ### Can I check for free? Yes. The free check asks 3 AI models 5 questions a new client might ask and shows whether they name your firm. The free crawler check shows whether AI crawlers can reach your site. ## Sources - [schema.org, LegalService](https://schema.org/LegalService) - [Google, “Local business structured data”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business) ## Related - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? - How can my firm show up when people ask AI for an accountant who handles their exact situation? - How can I show up when buyers ask AI for an agent who knows my neighborhood? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my restaurant show up when people ask AI where to eat? > Diners ask AI where to eat tonight, with a cuisine, a price and a neighborhood. What AI reads, why menus and hours matter, and what to fix first. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-restaurants Last updated: 2026-10-22 AI recommends restaurants it can match to a cuisine, a neighborhood, a price and a time. Put your menu with prices in text, not only a PDF or photo. Keep hours, including holiday hours, identical across your site and listings, and get named on the local lists and review sites AI reads. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Questions diners ask AI - “Best tacos in [neighborhood] open late” - “Kid-friendly brunch in [city] that takes reservations” - “Gluten-free pizza near [landmark]” - “Quiet restaurant for a date in [city]” - “Where to eat near [venue] before a show” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs - A text menu with prices, not only a PDF or photo. - Dietary options: vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free. - Hours, and holiday hours with dates. - Reservation and ordering links. - Your neighborhood and nearby landmarks. - `Restaurant` markup with `servesCuisine`, `hasMenu`, `openingHoursSpecification` and `acceptsReservations`. See Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? ## Listings and reviews Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, delivery and booking apps, and local food guides and lists. Yelp says ChatGPT users can reserve a table or join a waitlist at some restaurants in the US and Canada through Yelp, without leaving the chat. Make sure AI can reach your own site too: the free crawler check shows whether it can. ## Wrong hours are the most common complaint Holiday hours left up, an old listing, a delivery app nobody updated. See Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? ## What our study found In our study of 342 restaurant and bar websites, checked in October 2026: - 81% were fully open to AI crawlers, among the least open of the 14 kinds of business we checked. - 9.6% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 5.6% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 51% of the 283 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 144 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (22%), Squarespace (19%), Wix (7.8%). Check yours. In our study, 9.6% of the 342 restaurants and bars we checked showed an identified crawler a bot check, among the highest of the 14 categories. Check yours. ## Questions ### Does a PDF menu hurt my restaurant in AI answers? It can. AI tools read text more reliably than PDFs and images. Put the menu on a web page too. ### Do delivery apps affect what AI says? Yes. AI may read your listing on delivery and booking sites. Keep their hours and menus current. ### Should I block AI crawlers to protect my recipes or photos? Blocking search crawlers can keep your own pages out of AI answers. You can block training crawlers only. See Should I block AI crawlers? ### Why does AI say we’re closed on Mondays? Usually it’s repeating a source that says so: an old listing, a delivery or booking app, or holiday hours that were never removed. Ask the AI tool where it found that, correct that source, and keep your hours the same everywhere. See wrong hours. ## Sources - [schema.org, Restaurant](https://schema.org/Restaurant) - [Google, “Local business structured data”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business) - [Google Business Profile Help, “How to set Special hours”](https://support.google.com/business/answer/6303076) - [Yelp, “Yelp Brings Reservations and Waitlist to ChatGPT” (August 2026)](https://blog.yelp.com/news/yelp-chatgpt-integration/) ## Related - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How can my cafe show up when people ask AI for a good place to work with wifi? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my plumbing, HVAC or electrical business show up when people ask AI who to call? > Homeowners ask AI who to call for an urgent repair. What AI reads before it names a contractor, and what to fix on your site and listings first. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-home-services Last updated: 2026-10-22 AI names contractors it can match to the job, the area and the urgency. List each service and the towns you cover on your own pages, state emergency availability and licensing as text, keep your listings identical, and get named on the local directories and review sites AI reads. Then check what AI says. Updated October 22, 2026 ## Questions homeowners ask AI - “Emergency plumber in [town] open now” - “Who installs heat pumps in [county]” - “Licensed electrician for a panel upgrade near me” - “Price of a water heater replacement in [city]” - “Best-rated roofer in [town] for storm damage” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs - A page for each service. - The towns you serve, as a text list, not only a map image. Skip thin copy-and-paste town pages. - Your emergency hours. - License numbers, as your state requires. - Price ranges, where you publish them. - `Plumber`, `HVACBusiness`, `Electrician` or `RoofingContractor` markup with `areaServed`. See Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? ## Service-area businesses No storefront? Use the service-area setting in your Google Business Profile, and the same “serving [towns]” wording on your site and every listing. ## Listings Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, local trade associations and manufacturer dealer locators. Make sure AI can reach your own site too: the free crawler check shows whether it can. ## Booking AI agents that book for customers are coming soon. A booking or quote form that works without a login or CAPTCHA will matter when they arrive. ## What our study found In our study of 244 home services and trades websites, checked in October 2026: - 84% were fully open to AI crawlers. - 7.8% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 4.9% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 70% of the 208 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 146 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (47%), Squarespace (11%), Wix (6.2%). Check yours. In our study, 7.8% of the 244 home services and trades we checked showed an identified crawler a bot check, among the highest of the 14 categories. Check yours. ## Questions ### Should I make a page for every town I serve? Only if each page says something true and specific about that town. A list of towns on your service area page is usually enough for AI to know where you work. ### Does AI care about my license number? It can repeat it if it’s on your site, and it helps customers who ask whether you’re licensed. ### I don’t have a storefront. Can AI still recommend me? It can. AI can match a service-area business to the towns it serves when it can read them. Set your service area in your Google Business Profile, list the towns as text on your site, and use the same wording on every listing. ### Why does AI name a company from another town? Usually because that company states clearly that it serves your area, or is named on lists AI reads for it. List the towns you cover on your own site and listings, and get named on local directories. ## Sources - [schema.org, Plumber](https://schema.org/Plumber) - [schema.org, HVACBusiness](https://schema.org/HVACBusiness) - [schema.org, Electrician](https://schema.org/Electrician) - [Google, “Local business structured data”](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business) ## Related - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor instead of me? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How can my auto shop show up when drivers ask AI who services their make of car? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can I show up when buyers ask AI for an agent who knows my neighborhood? > Buyers and sellers ask AI which agent knows a neighborhood or works with first-time buyers. What AI reads before it names an agent, and what to fix first. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-real-estate-agents Last updated: 2026-11-04 AI recommends agents it can tie to specific neighborhoods, property types and kinds of clients. Write a page for each area you work, with the homes you've sold there and what you know about it, say who you help best, and keep your brokerage and license details consistent. Then check what AI says about you. Updated November 4, 2026 ## Questions customers ask AI - “Real estate agent who knows the condo buildings in [neighborhood]” - “Agent in [city] who works with first-time buyers using down payment assistance” - “Who can sell my house in [suburb] quickly without a full staging” - “Realtor in [city] who speaks Spanish and handles relocations from out of state” - “Listing agent in [area] with experience selling historic homes” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs from your site - Neighborhood pages written by you: the streets you cover, the housing stock, school zones and what buyers there usually ask. - The kinds of clients you serve best, stated plainly: first-time buyers, downsizers, investors, relocations, luxury listings. - Recent transactions as text, with the neighborhood and property type, so AI can connect your name to an area. - Your brokerage, license state and team members named the same way on your site, your brokerage profile and every directory. - The languages you work in and how clients can reach you, since buyers ask AI for both. ## What our study found In our study of 162 real estate agent and brokerage websites, checked in October 2026: - 81% were fully open to AI crawlers, among the least open of the 14 kinds of business we checked. - 4.3% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 9.9% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 47% of the 134 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 63 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (34%), Duda (6.0%), GoDaddy (5.2%). Real estate sites were among the least open in the study, with homepage failures more common than in most other categories, and they were among the least likely to carry structured data, so many agent sites give AI very little to confirm who the agent is and where they work. Check yours. ## Listings and areas shown only through an IDX frame Most agent sites pull listings from the MLS through an IDX feed, often inside an iframe or a script from another domain. Visitors see hundreds of homes, but crawlers usually see a frame they can't read, and the agent's own pages say little beyond a headshot and a phone number. AI then has nothing that links the agent to a neighborhood. **The fix:** Keep the IDX search, and add pages you write yourself: one per neighborhood you actually work, with what the homes are like, what you've sold there and what buyers there ask you. Add RealEstateAgent structured data with your name, brokerage and service area, and link the neighborhood pages from your main menu. ## Questions ### Does AI read my brokerage profile or my own website? Both, plus directory and review profiles. If they list different phone numbers, areas or team names, AI may merge them or pick the wrong one. Pick one version of your details and update every profile to match. ### Should each agent on a team have a separate page? Yes. People ask AI for a named person, and a team page with one paragraph for everyone makes it hard to tie a specific agent to a specific neighborhood. Give each agent a page with the areas and client types they cover. ### Do neighborhood market updates help me show up in AI answers? Updates about a specific neighborhood help, because they connect your name to that place in your own words. National market news doesn't, since thousands of sites publish the same thing. Then run a free check to see which areas AI already ties you to. ## Related - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - How can my practice show up when patients ask AI for a doctor accepting new patients? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my auto shop show up when drivers ask AI who services their make of car? > Drivers ask AI which shop works on their make, does same-day brakes or takes walk-ins. What AI reads before it names a repair shop, and what to fix first. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-auto-repair-shops Last updated: 2026-11-04 AI names repair shops it can match to the car, the job and the timing. List the makes you service, the repairs you do and whether you take walk-ins, keep your hours and address identical everywhere, and make sure your site loads for automated visitors. Then check what AI says about your shop. Updated November 4, 2026 ## Questions customers ask AI - “Independent shop in [city] that works on European cars” - “Who can replace a hybrid battery near [neighborhood]” - “Mechanic open Saturday in [city] for a check engine light” - “Auto repair in [area] that does state inspections without an appointment” - “Honest brake shop near [highway exit] that gives a written estimate first” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs from your site - The makes and models you service and the ones you don't, as text, since drivers name their car in the question. - Repairs and services by name: brakes, timing belts, hybrid batteries, diagnostics, inspections, alignments, fleet work. - Whether you take walk-ins, how soon you can usually see a car, and whether you offer loaners or a shuttle. - Certifications and warranty terms written out, not only as badge images in the footer. - Hours and the exact entrance, which matter for shops on frontage roads or in shared lots. ## What our study found In our study of 232 auto repair shop websites, checked in October 2026: - 85% were fully open to AI crawlers. - 3.0% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 3.9% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 62% of the 207 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 129 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (29%), Duda (12%), GoDaddy (8.2%). Auto repair sites put up fewer bot checks than most categories, so access is rarely what holds a shop back; the work is in what the pages say, namely the makes, the repairs and the hours AI needs to match a driver's question. Check yours. ## Services shown as icons with no words Many shop sites show services as a grid of icons, a brake disc, an oil can, an engine, with one-word labels or none at all. A person gets the idea. An AI tool reading the page finds almost no text about which jobs the shop does, so it can't match the shop to a question about hybrid batteries or a specific make, and it describes the shop from reviews instead. **The fix:** Give each main service a short paragraph or its own page: what's included, which makes you do it on and how long it usually takes. Add AutoRepair structured data with your hours and address, and use the same service names on your listings so AI sees one consistent shop. ## Questions ### Does AI recommend dealers over independent shops? Not by default. Dealers tend to have more pages about each make, so they match make-specific questions. An independent shop that writes clearly about the makes it services gives AI the same thing to match. ### Should my labor rates be on the website? If you're comfortable sharing them, yes. Drivers ask AI for shops that give written estimates or clear pricing, and AI can only repeat what it can read. Even one sentence on how you quote work helps. ### Do AI tools read what customers say about my shop? Often, yes, and they repeat what reviews say about honesty, speed and specific repairs. Reply to reviews with the repair and the car, which adds the details AI looks for, and run a free check to see how AI describes your shop today. ## Related - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How can my cafe show up when people ask AI for a good place to work with wifi? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my practice show up when patients ask AI for a doctor accepting new patients? > Patients ask AI for a doctor accepting new patients, a same-day clinic or a specialist near them. What AI reads before it names a practice, and what to fix. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-medical-practices Last updated: 2026-11-04 AI names practices it can match to a specialty, a patient's situation and whether they're taking new patients. Say who you see, which conditions you treat and how to book, as text on your own pages, and keep each provider's details consistent everywhere. Then check what AI says about your practice. Updated November 4, 2026 ## Questions customers ask AI - “Family doctor in [city] accepting new patients this month” - “Urgent care near [neighborhood] open late with X-ray on site” - “Dermatologist in [city] who does skin checks without a long wait” - “Pediatrician near [area] with Saturday hours” - “Physical therapy clinic in [city] that treats running injuries” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs from your site - Whether each provider is accepting new patients, kept current on that provider's page. - Specialties and the conditions and procedures you treat, in the words patients use. - The insurance plans you accept, written as a list on the site. - Provider profiles with credentials, languages spoken and the locations where each one sees patients. - Hours by location, walk-in or same-day options, and how to book or request an appointment. - Which visits you offer by video, and the states you can see patients in. ## What our study found In our study of 318 doctor and clinic websites, checked in October 2026: - 88% were fully open to AI crawlers, among the most open of the 14 kinds of business we checked. - 4.7% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 5.0% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 54% of the 281 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 153 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (41%), Squarespace (7.8%), Wix (7.1%). Clinic and practice sites were among the most open in the study, so AI can usually reach them; the work is making sure provider pages carry the details patients ask about, such as new-patient status and which location each doctor works at. Check yours. ## Provider details split across a network directory Practices that belong to a larger network often have provider details in the network's directory, a separate scheduling portal and the practice's own site, each slightly different. One says a doctor is accepting new patients, another doesn't, and a third lists a location they left. AI picks from whichever it reads, and patients call to find the answer is out of date. **The fix:** Choose one place as the source of truth for each provider's locations, hours and new-patient status, then update the network directory, the scheduling portal and your listings to match. Add Physician or MedicalClinic structured data to provider and location pages. ## Questions ### How do I tell AI we're accepting new patients? Say it in a sentence on each provider's page and on your contact page, with the date you last updated it. Update your listings at the same time, since AI often compares them with your site. ### Is it safe to let AI crawlers read a medical practice website? Your public pages are already public. Crawlers read what anyone can see, not patient portals or records, which stay behind a login. Letting search crawlers in changes who can describe your practice, not what's private. ### Does AI know which visits we offer by video? It knows what your site says. List the visit types you offer by video and the states you can see patients in, and run a free check to see what AI says about your practice today. ## Related - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business? - How can I show up when buyers ask AI for an agent who knows my neighborhood? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my cafe show up when people ask AI for a good place to work with wifi? > People ask AI for a quiet cafe with wifi and outlets, or a bakery with fresh bread before work. What AI reads before it names one, and what to fix first. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-cafes-and-bakeries Last updated: 2026-11-04 AI names cafes and bakeries it can match to what someone wants right now: a place to work, a dietary need, an early pastry. Describe your seating, wifi, menu and opening time as text, keep your hours identical everywhere, and update seasonal items. Then check what AI says about your cafe. Updated November 4, 2026 ## Questions customers ask AI - “Quiet cafe with wifi and outlets to work from near [neighborhood]” - “Coffee shop in [city] that opens early and has oat milk” - “Bakery near [area] with gluten-free bread on weekdays” - “Dog-friendly cafe with outdoor seating in [town]” - “Where to pick up a whole cake tomorrow in [city]” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs from your site - Seating, wifi, outlets and your laptop policy, since people ask AI where they can work for a few hours. - The drink and food menu as text, including milk alternatives and items that are gluten-free or vegan. - Your opening time on each day, and when fresh bread or pastries come out. - Outdoor seating, dog policy and accessibility, written on the page. - Order-ahead and pickup options, with how far ahead whole cakes or large orders need to be placed. ## What our study found In our study of 353 cafe and bakery websites, checked in October 2026: - 90% were fully open to AI crawlers, among the most open of the 14 kinds of business we checked. - 3.7% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 3.7% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 51% of the 316 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 161 sites. - Most common site builders: Squarespace (21%), WordPress (17%), Shopify (13%). Cafe and bakery sites were among the most open in the study, so AI can usually reach them; what decides whether a cafe gets named is whether its pages say the things people ask about, like wifi, seating and dietary options. Check yours. ## A homepage that's one big photo and a social feed Many cafe sites are a hero photo, an embedded Instagram feed and a link to an ordering app. It looks right, but there's almost no text about seating, wifi, the menu or the opening time, so AI tools answer questions about those from reviews written months or years ago. **The fix:** Add a short About section with seating, wifi and laptop policy, a text menu with dietary notes, and hours for each day. Add CafeOrCoffeeShop or Bakery structured data and test it with the business schema checker. ## Questions ### Should I mention our laptop policy on the website? Yes, either way. Some people ask AI for cafes they can work from, and others ask for one without a room full of laptops. A sentence on the site helps AI match both. ### Does AI read my online ordering page? Sometimes, but many ordering pages load the menu with scripts that crawlers can't read. Keep a plain-text menu on your own site as well, with the same item names. ### How do I stop AI from recommending last season's drinks? Mark seasonal items with their months on your menu page, take them off when they end, and update your listings. Then run a free check to see what AI says. ## Related - Why does AI give the wrong hours for my business, and how do I fix it? - How can my salon show up when people ask AI who does a specific cut or color near them? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - How can my auto shop show up when drivers ask AI who services their make of car? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my firm show up when people ask AI for an accountant who handles their exact situation? > People ask AI for a CPA who handles rental property or an agent who quotes home and auto together. What AI reads before it names a firm, and what to fix. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-accountants-and-insurance-agents Last updated: 2026-11-07 AI recommends accountants, advisors and insurance agents it can match to a specific situation. Name the clients you serve, the returns and policies you handle and the states you're licensed in, as text on your own pages, and check that your robots.txt lets AI search crawlers in. Then see what AI says about your firm. Updated November 7, 2026 ## Questions customers ask AI - “CPA in [city] who does taxes for rental property owners” - “Accountant near [neighborhood] who works with freelancers and quarterly estimates” - “Independent insurance agent in [state] who can quote home and auto together” - “Fee-only financial advisor in [city] for someone close to retirement” - “Bookkeeper in [area] who knows restaurant payroll” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs from your site - The client types you serve, by name: rental owners, small businesses, freelancers, retirees, nonprofits. - The returns, services or policy lines you handle, and the ones you refer out. - The states you're licensed in and your credentials (CPA, EA, CFP, producer license), written as text. - For agencies, the carriers you write for, since people ask for an agent who can quote a specific one. - How a first meeting works: video or in person, how to book, and what to bring. - Your firm name and address written identically on your site, your professional association listing and every directory. ## What our study found In our study of 211 accounting, insurance and financial advisor websites, checked in October 2026: - 86% were fully open to AI crawlers. - 6.6% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 3.3% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 47% of the 177 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 83 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (40%), GoDaddy (7.3%), Wix (4.0%). Firms in this group were the most likely in the study to block every major AI crawler in robots.txt, and among the least likely to carry structured data, so a quick look at robots.txt and the homepage markup is worth doing before anything else. Check yours. ## A crawler rule nobody at the firm chose Many firm sites are set up by an IT, compliance or marketing vendor, and a rule that turns away AI crawlers by name can arrive with a security plugin or a site template. Nobody at the firm decided it and nobody notices, because the site still looks normal in a browser and still appears in regular search results. **The fix:** Open yourdomain.com/robots.txt and look for GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot or a blanket Disallow. Run the AI crawler check to see which assistants can reach you, then ask whoever manages the site to allow the search crawlers you want, following the robots.txt guide. ## Questions ### Is it okay for a regulated firm to let AI crawlers read its website? The pages AI crawlers read are the same public pages anyone can open. If something is fine to publish, letting search crawlers read it doesn't change that. Client portals and documents stay behind a login, as they already are. ### Should an insurance agency list the carriers it writes for? Yes. People ask AI for an agent who can quote a particular carrier or compare several, and a list of carriers on your site is the detail AI needs to match that question to your agency. ### Does AI know our tax season hours? Only if your site and listings say so. Post extended hours and the deadlines you work to, change them back when the season ends, and the steps for wrong hours apply too. A free check shows what AI says now. ## Related - Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - How can my salon show up when people ask AI who does a specific cut or color near them? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How can my salon show up when people ask AI who does a specific cut or color near them? > Clients ask AI who does curly cuts, balayage, skin fades or fine-line tattoos nearby. What AI reads before it names a salon, barber or studio, and what to fix. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-salons-and-barbershops Last updated: 2026-11-07 AI names salons, barbers and tattoo studios it can match to a specific service and style. Name your services and specialties as text, give each stylist or artist a short profile, and keep your booking link, hours and address the same everywhere. Then check what AI says about your shop. Updated November 7, 2026 ## Questions customers ask AI - “Salon in [city] that specializes in cutting curly hair” - “Barber near [neighborhood] who does skin fades on Sunday” - “Who does balayage for dark hair in [city]” - “Fine-line tattoo artist in [city] who takes walk-ins” - “Nail salon near [area] with non-toxic polish” Preferly runs the same check for every kind of business. It writes questions for your business from your website and, for local businesses, your Google profile. ## What AI needs from your site - A service menu as text, with each service's name, how long the appointment takes and who performs it. - A short profile for each stylist, barber or artist: specialties, styles and the days they work. - The hair types and techniques you specialize in, in the words clients use: curly, coily, color correction, extensions. - Your booking link and whether you take walk-ins, with the same policy on your site and in your booking app. - For tattoo studios, the styles each artist does and how consultations and deposits work. ## What our study found In our study of 294 salon, barbershop and tattoo studio websites, checked in October 2026: - 87% were fully open to AI crawlers. - 3.4% showed our identified crawler a bot check. - 5.1% had a homepage that didn’t load. - 48% of the 251 homepages that loaded had structured data (JSON-LD): 120 sites. - Most common site builders: WordPress (25%), Squarespace (20%), Wix (11%). Salon, barbershop and tattoo sites were among the least likely in the study to carry structured data, so many of them give AI no machine-readable name, address or hours and leave it to piece those together from booking apps and reviews. Check yours. ## The real menu lives only in the booking app Many salons and barbershops point the site's Book button at a booking app and leave the website itself as a gallery and a phone number. The services, the stylists and the length of each appointment exist only inside the app, where crawlers usually can't read them, so AI has little to match to a question about a specific cut or color. **The fix:** Keep the booking app, and copy the service menu and stylist profiles onto your own site as text. Add HairSalon, BeautySalon or TattooParlor structured data with your hours and address, and test it with the business schema checker. ## Questions ### Does AI read my Instagram portfolio? Captions can help, but a portfolio is mostly pictures, and the answers AI gives are built from text. Describe the styles and techniques you're known for in words on your website, and link each artist's portfolio from their profile. ### How should a salon with booth renters list its stylists? Give each stylist a profile on the salon site, even if they book separately, with their specialties and booking link. People ask AI for a person as often as a salon, and a named profile lets AI connect the two. ### Why does AI say we take walk-ins when we don't? It's usually repeating an old review or listing. State your walk-in policy plainly on your site and booking pages, update your listings, and run a free check to see which version AI repeats. ## Related - Does schema markup help my business show up in AI answers? - Business schema checker: can AI tell what your business is? - Where do ChatGPT and other AI tools get information about my business? - How can my firm show up when people ask AI for an accountant who handles their exact situation? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # How many small business websites block AI crawlers? > We checked 3,693 US small and local business websites for AI crawler blocks, bot checks and missing robots.txt. The results, method and data. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study Last updated: 2026-10-22 We checked 3,693 small and local business websites in 26 US cities and metro areas. About 1 in 7 aren’t fully open to AI crawlers, and most owners didn’t choose that. Only 3.1% block AI crawlers in robots.txt. Most of the rest showed our identified crawler a bot check (5.8%) or didn’t load at all (5.0%). Updated October 22, 2026 ## What we found We checked 4,111 websites of small and local businesses in 26 US cities, and could analyze 3,693 of them. 86% were fully open to AI crawlers. The other 14% weren’t: 5.8% showed our clearly identified crawler a bot check, 5.0% didn’t load at all (mostly because of broken HTTPS certificates), 3.1% block some or all AI crawlers in robots.txt, and 0.4% had a robots.txt we couldn’t read. Only the robots.txt blocks are a rule written for crawlers. The bot checks come from hosting and security vendors, and the broken homepages are certificate and server errors, so most of those owners never decided anything about AI. Their sites just aren’t fully reachable for it. What an AI crawler finds on a small business website. **1. Deliberate blocking is rare.** 3.2% of sites with a readable robots.txt block at least one of the 9 major AI crawlers from their homepage. 0.9% block all of them. When sites do block, 83% use rules that name AI crawlers rather than a blanket rule for every bot. 24% of the sites that block any AI crawler carry a section written by Cloudflare’s managed robots.txt setting, which the owner may never have looked at. **2. Training crawlers get blocked more than search crawlers.** GPTBot, OpenAI’s training crawler, is the most blocked major crawler (3.1%), ahead of ClaudeBot (2.8%) and Google-Extended (2.3%). The crawlers that fetch pages for live answers are blocked about a third as often: OAI-SearchBot 1.0%, ChatGPT-User 1.0%, Claude-SearchBot 0.9%, PerplexityBot 1.2%. 2.1% of sites block training crawlers while leaving the search and user crawlers allowed, the split OpenAI documents for opting out of training while staying in ChatGPT search. Which AI crawlers small business sites block in robots.txt. **3. Bot checks turn away more AI visitors than robots.txt does.** 5.8% of sites showed our crawler a bot check instead of their homepage: Cloudflare on 3.0% of sites and SiteGround on 2.7%, with Akamai and AWS WAF on a handful. 40% of the sites we analyzed run behind Cloudflare. A bot check doesn’t always stop the big AI crawlers, which vendors can recognize and let through. It does stop newer AI tools, and it will stop AI agents acting for a customer unless the vendor lets them in. Bot checks by vendor. **4. One in 20 homepages didn’t load.** 5.0% of sites failed to load for an automated visitor over HTTPS. Most of those (3.8% of all sites analyzed) had an HTTPS certificate problem: a certificate for a different name, an expired one, or a failed secure connection. The rest returned server errors or redirected in a loop. A browser shows a person a warning page for these. An AI crawler usually just moves on. **5. Missing robots.txt isn’t a problem.** 12% of sites have no robots.txt. That’s fine: under the robots.txt standard (RFC 9309), no file means every crawler is allowed. Does the site have a robots.txt? ## By industry **6. Restaurants, hotels and law firms see the most bot checks.** 9.6% of restaurant and bar sites, 9.1% of law firm sites and 8.9% of hotel sites showed a bot check, against 1.9% of vet and pet sites. Real estate and hotels had the most homepages that didn’t load (9.9% and 9.4%). Cafes and bakeries, and vets and pet services, were the most open, with 90% and 91% of sites fully reachable. By category: what AI crawlers find. | Category | Sites | Fully open | Bot check | Didn’t load | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Hotels and lodging | 202 | 80% | 8.9% | 9.4% | | Real estate | 162 | 81% | 4.3% | 9.9% | | Restaurants and bars | 342 | 81% | 9.6% | 5.6% | | Lawyers | 243 | 84% | 9.1% | 5.3% | | Dentists | 287 | 84% | 8.4% | 3.8% | | Home services and trades | 244 | 84% | 7.8% | 4.9% | | Auto repair | 232 | 85% | 3.0% | 3.9% | | Accounting, insurance and finance | 211 | 86% | 6.6% | 3.3% | | Retail shops | 350 | 87% | 4.9% | 5.1% | | Hair, beauty and tattoo | 294 | 87% | 3.4% | 5.1% | | Fitness | 248 | 88% | 5.2% | 3.6% | | Doctors and clinics | 318 | 88% | 4.7% | 5.0% | | Cafes and bakeries | 353 | 90% | 3.7% | 3.7% | | Vets and pet services | 207 | 91% | 1.9% | 2.9% | Preferly, October 2026. 3,693 US small and local business sites analyzed. Sample drawn from OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. ## What this means for a business owner - **Check what AI crawlers get, not just your robots.txt.** Most sites that aren’t fully open to AI crawlers got that way through a bot check or a broken certificate, not a rule the owner wrote. - **If you use Cloudflare, SiteGround or another firewall, look at its bot settings.** Allow the AI search and user crawlers you want to be found by (OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User, PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User). You can still block training crawlers like GPTBot. - **Fix certificate errors first.** A site that doesn’t load over HTTPS loses AI visitors and people alike. - **You don’t need a robots.txt to be found.** If you have one, make sure it doesn’t disallow the crawlers you want. - See what AI crawlers get from your own site with our free AI crawler check. It runs the same two requests we used in this study, and needs no email. - Being readable is the first step; being recommended is the next. To find out whether AI names your business, and whether what it says matches your website, see what AI says about your business ($99 audit). ## How we did it **Sample.** We took businesses with a website listed in OpenStreetMap, in 14 categories (restaurants and bars, cafes and bakeries, dentists, doctors and clinics, lawyers, accounting and insurance, real estate, home services and trades, auto repair, hair and beauty, fitness, retail shops, hotels, and vets and pet services), across 26 US cities and metro areas from Boston to San Jose and Miami to Seattle. We dropped anything tagged with a brand, any domain listed for 3 or more locations (chains and franchises), social media and booking pages, and government and school sites. We then drew up to 25 sites per city and category and 160 per city, with a fixed random seed, before checking any site. That gave 4,111 websites. **What we checked.** For each site, on October 22, 2026, we made the same two requests Preferly’s free AI crawler check makes: robots.txt, then the homepage. Sites that showed a bot check, an error or a timeout were checked once more a few minutes later, and the second result is the one we report. We read robots.txt by the rules of RFC 9309 for 13 AI crawlers: the 9 major ones (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, Claude-User, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User and Google-Extended) and 4 others (Applebot-Extended, Meta-ExternalAgent, Meta-ExternalFetcher and HarkBot). A crawler counts as blocked when the rules disallow it from the homepage. We fetched the homepage only when robots.txt allowed our own crawler. We recognized bot checks by the vendor’s own markers in the response. **How we identified ourselves.** Every request said it came from PreferlyBot, with a link to a page explaining what it does (preferly.ai/bot). We didn’t pretend to be a browser or another company’s crawler, and we didn’t try to get past any bot check. Requests weren’t signed with Web Bot Auth. Requests were spread out, with no more than one at a time per site. We kept no personal data, and we don’t name any business. **How to read the percentages.** Percentages about robots.txt rules are out of the 3,370 analyzed sites whose robots.txt we could read (or that had none). Everything else is out of the 3,693 sites analyzed, so the chart of what crawlers find shows slightly lower blocking shares. **What we left out.** 246 listed websites (6.0%) were on domains that no longer exist. Another 172 didn’t respond in a way we could interpret from our network: some timed out or reset the connection, and some redirected to plain HTTP, which our network couldn’t follow. We left both groups out, leaving 3,693 sites analyzed. ## Limits - OpenStreetMap lists the businesses volunteers have mapped, and only those with a website. That leans toward city centers and businesses that have a site at all. - A bot check shown to our crawler may not be shown to GPTBot or Googlebot, which firewall vendors can recognize by their published addresses. Our bot-check numbers show what a new, honestly identified automated visitor gets. - Firewalls can also block a specific AI crawler at the network edge without any sign in robots.txt or in what our crawler saw. We couldn’t measure that without pretending to be that crawler, which we don’t do. So the true share of sites that aren’t fully open to AI crawlers is, if anything, higher. - HTTPS only: sites that work only over plain HTTP were left out as inconclusive. - Each site was checked once, on October 22, 2026. Sites change. ## Data The totals by category and verdict, without any site names or domains: [Download the data (CSV, CC BY 4.0)](https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study.csv) The aggregate data is free to reuse under the [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Please credit: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. Sample drawn from OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. ## Questions ### How did you choose the websites? We took businesses with a website listed in OpenStreetMap, in 14 categories across 26 US cities and metro areas, dropped chains, franchises, social media and booking pages, and drew a random sample of 4,111 sites before checking any of them. ### Did you name any businesses? No. We report totals only, and the data file has counts, not websites. ### Can I check my own site? Yes. The free AI crawler check runs the same two requests on your site, with no email. ### Can I use this data? Yes. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Credit Preferly and link to this page. The sample came from OpenStreetMap, so keep its credit too: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. ## Sources - [RFC 9309, “Robots Exclusion Protocol”](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9309) - [OpenAI, “Overview of OpenAI Crawlers”](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) - [OpenStreetMap, “Copyright and License”](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) - [Creative Commons, “Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)”](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ## Related - Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot from my website? - Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers from my website? - How do I let AI crawlers like ChatGPT access my site? - How do I know if AI web crawlers are blocked from accessing my site and spreading false information about my products? - All guides - Pricing: the free check and the full report --- # Blog > Plain answers for business owners about AI search: what ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI tools tell your customers, and how to change it. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog Plain answers about AI search for business owners: what AI tells your customers, and how to change it. For answers by topic and by industry, see the guides. - Why is my business not showing up on ChatGPT? Published November 11, 2026 · chatgpt, geo, crawlers, local Your business is missing from ChatGPT's answers. The seven usual causes, from a blocked crawler to thin listings, how to test each one, and what to fix first. - AI crawler access across 14 types of local business: restaurants and hotels trail, vets lead Published November 10, 2026 · crawlers, research We checked 162 to 353 websites in each of 14 types of local business. Vets and cafes were the most open to AI crawlers; hotels and real estate the least. - Alternatives to monthly AI visibility trackers Published November 10, 2026 · comparison, geo You don't need a monthly plan to see what AI says about your business. Free checkers, one-time audits and website builder tools, with prices and coverage. - Best AI visibility audit tools for small businesses (2026) Published November 10, 2026 · comparison, geo Nine AI visibility tools a small business can start without a sales call, A to Z: free checkers, one-time audits and monthly trackers, with prices. - ChatGPT now lets you claim your business Published November 10, 2026 · chatgpt, geo OpenAI now lets eligible businesses claim a ChatGPT profile. Who can join the beta, what official insights show, and why a Preferly check still helps. - Preferly vs Proofsource: one-time AI visibility audit or ongoing tracking? Published November 10, 2026 · comparison, geo Preferly is a one-time $99 audit across 10 AI models. Proofsource tracks AI answers over time, with a free plan. Prices, engines and where each is stronger. - Preferly is on Product Hunt: see what AI says about your business Published November 9, 2026 · seo, accuracy See what AI tells customers about your business. Try Preferly's free 3-model check, or get a 10-model audit and prioritized fixes for $99 once. - Can you pay ChatGPT to recommend your business? Published November 6, 2026 · chatgpt, geo, local ChatGPT now sells ads, but OpenAI says ads don't change its answers. What a ChatGPT ad gets you, what it costs, and how businesses get named for free. - How do I get my business listed on ChatGPT? Published November 6, 2026 · Updated November 10, 2026 · chatgpt, geo, local You can now claim a ChatGPT business profile, if you're eligible. How the Business Hub beta works, where ChatGPT still finds businesses, and what to fix first. - AI crawler statistics for small business websites: 40 numbers from 3,693 sites (2026) Published November 5, 2026 · crawlers, research Every number from our October 2026 study of 3,693 small business websites: robots.txt blocks, bot checks, broken homepages, Cloudflare and builders. - Google clicks cost more and free clicks are disappearing. Why your business needs an AEO strategy now Published November 5, 2026 · seo, geo, local Google's cost per click keeps rising and 68% of searches end without a click. Why an AEO strategy is now a must for small businesses, and where it starts. - 40% of small business sites run behind Cloudflare. Are they more or less open to AI? Published November 4, 2026 · crawlers, cloudflare 1,481 of 3,693 small business sites we checked were behind Cloudflare. They saw more bot checks but far fewer broken homepages, and ended up more open to AI. - We checked 9 website builders for AI crawler access. Hosted builders were almost always open Published November 3, 2026 · crawlers, research Of small business sites whose homepage loaded, every Wix, Shopify, GoDaddy and Weebly site was open to AI crawlers. Where WordPress and Squarespace got stuck. - 44% of small business homepages have no structured data. What that means for AI answers Published November 2, 2026 · schema, research 1,453 of 3,283 small business homepages we loaded had no valid JSON-LD. The share by website builder and business type, and the one block worth adding. - 72 small business sites block GPTBot but let ChatGPT search in. How the split works Published October 31, 2026 · crawlers, chatgpt 2.1% of small business sites we checked block OpenAI's training crawler while allowing its search crawler. What each one does and how to set the same split. - 140 small business homepages failed on HTTPS alone. A broken certificate can hide you from AI Published October 30, 2026 · crawlers, research 183 of the 3,693 small business homepages we checked didn't load, and 140 of those were certificate or TLS errors. Why AI tools skip them, and the quick fix. - Only 3.2% of small business sites block AI crawlers in robots.txt. Here's who they block Published October 30, 2026 · crawlers, research Of 3,370 small business sites with a readable robots.txt, 109 block at least one major AI crawler and 29 block all of them. The crawlers they name most. - 216 small business sites showed our crawler a bot check. Here's why that hides you from AI Published October 29, 2026 · crawlers, research 5.8% of the 3,693 small business websites we checked showed an identified crawler a bot check instead of the homepage. Who causes it and what to ask your host. - 1 in 7 small business websites aren't fully open to AI. Is yours one of them? Published October 29, 2026 · crawlers, research We checked 3,693 small business websites. 530 weren't fully open to AI crawlers, and most of those owners never chose that. Here's what got in the way. --- # Why is my business not showing up on ChatGPT? > Your business is missing from ChatGPT's answers. The seven usual causes, from a blocked crawler to thin listings, how to test each one, and what to fix first. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/why-is-my-business-not-showing-up-on-chatgpt Published: 2026-11-11 Last updated: 2026-11-11 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** usually because ChatGPT can't read your website, can't confirm your basic facts, or doesn't find you in the places it searches, so it names businesses it can confirm instead. Sometimes it's the test: answers change from run to run and with the asker's location, so one missing answer doesn't prove much. Each cause below has a quick way to check it and a fix. Most owners find out by accident. A customer mentions they "asked ChatGPT", or you try it yourself and see three competitors and no mention of you. Here's how to work out why. ## First, test it properly Before fixing anything, make sure the gap is real. 1. Open a private window, logged out, so ChatGPT's memory of your past chats doesn't skew the answer. 2. Ask what a new customer would ask, without your name: "best family dentist in South Tampa", "emergency plumber near Westchase open Sunday". 3. Ask each question three times, and note who's named, in what order, and which sites are cited. 4. Then ask about you by name and compare what ChatGPT says with your website. Why repeat? [BrightLocal's study of 200,000 local AI searches](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-ai-visibility-study/) (Sep 2026) found repeat runs of the same prompt on ChatGPT shared only 23% of their results on average. A business named once was named again in about half of later runs. Moving the search point across the same town changed the results too. So "missing in one answer" and "missing in every answer" are different problems. If you're absent across all of them, work through the causes in this order. ## The seven usual causes ### 1. ChatGPT's crawler is blocked ChatGPT search reads sites with a crawler called OAI-SearchBot. [OpenAI says](https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots) sites that opt out of it "will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers". A line in robots.txt can do this, sometimes added by a plugin or a developer years ago. **Check:** open yoursite.com/robots.txt and look for OAI-SearchBot, or run our [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check). ### 2. A bot check or firewall stops it This is more common than a robots.txt rule. In our [study of 3,693 small business websites](https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study), 530 (about 1 in 7) weren't fully open to AI crawlers, and only 115 of those had a robots.txt rule aimed at AI. The rest were bot checks (216 sites), homepages that didn't load (183) and unreadable robots.txt files. Our post on [sites that aren't fully open to AI](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/small-business-websites-not-open-to-ai) breaks it down. **Check:** the same crawler check loads your homepage the way an identified crawler does and tells you if it hits a challenge page. ### 3. Your facts aren't in plain text If your services, area, hours and prices live in images, a PDF menu or a booking widget, ChatGPT may find your site and still not know what you do or where. A homepage that says "Welcome! Quality you can trust" gives it nothing to match to "dentist in South Tampa". **Fix:** a plain sentence near the top of your homepage saying what you are and where, plus text pages for each service. ### 4. Your listings are thin or inconsistent BrightLocal found ChatGPT leaning on Yelp, Bing and business websites, with Google Business Profile "hardly used by ChatGPT", while Google's own AI tools relied on it heavily. A business that has only a Google profile can be close to invisible to ChatGPT. Different phone numbers or hours across listings make it worse, because ChatGPT can't tell which is right. **Fix:** claim and complete Yelp, Bing Places and the directories for your trade, with the same name, address, phone and hours everywhere. ### 5. Other sites don't mention you ChatGPT tends to name businesses that "best of" lists, local news, review sites and community pages already name. If competitors appear on those pages and you don't, they'll be picked first. See [why AI recommends your competitors](https://www.preferly.ai/why-ai-recommends-competitors) for how to find the pages it cites for them. ### 6. You're outside the area it's searching Location matters. In BrightLocal's data, most ChatGPT picks were within 10 km of the search point, and storefronts were mentioned slightly more often than service-area businesses (33.7% vs 29.4%). If you serve a town but your address is in the next one, say clearly on your site which towns you cover. ### 7. AI contradicts your website Sometimes ChatGPT does know you but describes you wrongly: old hours, a closed location, a service you dropped. That can keep you out of answers for the questions you care about, and it misleads the customers who do see you. Compare what it says about you by name with your site, line by line. ## What to fix first Work in this order, because each step depends on the one before: 1. Access: crawler allowed, no bot check, homepage loads. 2. Facts: what you do, where, hours and contact details in plain text. 3. Listings: Yelp, Bing and your trade's directories, all matching. 4. Mentions: local lists and articles that rank for your main searches. Then test again with the same questions. Our post on [getting your business listed on ChatGPT](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/how-to-get-your-business-listed-on-chatgpt) covers steps 3 and 4 in more detail. ## Get the diagnosis in one go Testing by hand works, but it's slow, and ChatGPT is only one of the AI tools your customers use. Preferly's [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) asks 3 AI models 5 customer questions in about a minute and shows whether you're named and up to 2 places where AI contradicts your website. The [full report](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit) asks 10 AI models, including ChatGPT, 5+ questions with web search on. It shows which competitors are named instead of you and the sources behind them, checks every claim about you against your site, tests crawler access and lists each fix in priority order. It's $99, paid once, with a free re-scan within 30 days to see what moved. If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. ## Questions ### My business shows up on Google. Why not on ChatGPT? ChatGPT runs its own searches and leans on different sources. BrightLocal's 2026 study found a tracked business appeared in 66% of Google Maps searches but only 33% of ChatGPT searches, and ChatGPT's picks overlapped with Google AI Mode's only 19% of the time. ### ChatGPT named me yesterday but not today. Why? Answers vary from run to run. In BrightLocal's study, repeat runs of the same local prompt on ChatGPT shared only 23% of their results on average, and a business named once came back in about half of later runs. Look for a pattern over several runs, not one answer. ### How long after fixing things will ChatGPT show my business? OpenAI says robots.txt changes reach its search systems in about 24 hours. Page changes show once its crawler revisits. New listings and mentions on other sites usually take weeks to months to matter. ## Sources - https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots - https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-ai-visibility-study/ - https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-searching-the-web-with-chatgpt - https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study --- # AI crawler access across 14 types of local business: restaurants and hotels trail, vets lead > We checked 162 to 353 websites in each of 14 types of local business. Vets and cafes were the most open to AI crawlers; hotels and real estate the least. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/ai-crawler-access-by-business-type Published: 2026-11-10 Last updated: 2026-11-10 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** the gap between business types is real but not huge. Vets and pet services (90.8%) and cafes and bakeries (90.4%) were the most open to AI crawlers. Hotels and lodging (79.7%) and real estate (80.9%) were the least. Every category had at least 162 sites. ## The full table | Type of business | Sites | Open | Bot check | Homepage didn't load | robots.txt blocks AI | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Vets and pet services | 207 | 90.8% | 1.9% | 2.9% | 2.9% | | Cafes and bakeries | 353 | 90.4% | 3.7% | 3.7% | 2.3% | | Doctors and clinics | 318 | 88.4% | 4.7% | 5.0% | 1.6% | | Fitness | 248 | 88.3% | 5.2% | 3.6% | 2.8% | | Hair, beauty and tattoo | 294 | 86.7% | 3.4% | 5.1% | 4.1% | | Retail shops | 350 | 86.6% | 4.9% | 5.1% | 3.4% | | Accounting, insurance and finance | 211 | 86.3% | 6.6% | 3.3% | 3.3% | | Auto repair | 232 | 84.9% | 3.0% | 3.9% | 7.3% | | Home services and trades | 244 | 84.4% | 7.8% | 4.9% | 2.9% | | Dentists | 287 | 83.6% | 8.4% | 3.8% | 4.2% | | Lawyers | 243 | 83.5% | 9.1% | 5.3% | 1.2% | | Restaurants and bars | 342 | 81.3% | 9.6% | 5.6% | 2.6% | | Real estate | 162 | 80.9% | 4.3% | 9.9% | 4.3% | | Hotels and lodging | 202 | 79.7% | 8.9% | 9.4% | 1.5% | Rows don't add to 100%: a few sites had an unreadable robots.txt. ## Three things that stood out - **Restaurants and bars had the most bot checks** (33 of 342, 9.6%). That matters because "where should we eat tonight" is exactly the kind of question people now ask AI. - **Auto repair had the most robots.txt blocks** (17 of 232, 7.3%), more than twice the overall rate. - **Hotels and real estate lost the most homepages** to errors, about 1 in 10 each. ## What to do with this Use your category as a hint about where to look first. If you run a restaurant, start with bot checks; if you run a hotel or a real estate office, start with your HTTPS. Then run the [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check) on your own site. We also have guides for [restaurants](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-restaurants), [dentists](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-dentists), [lawyers](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-lawyers) and [home services](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-home-services). Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ ## Questions ### Why are hotel and real estate sites less open? In our sample, mostly because more of their homepages didn't load (about 1 in 10), plus bot checks on hotel sites. ### Is the difference big enough to matter? For any one business, what matters is whether your own site is open. The category numbers show where problems are more common. --- # Alternatives to monthly AI visibility trackers > You don't need a monthly plan to see what AI says about your business. Free checkers, one-time audits and website builder tools, with prices and coverage. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/ai-visibility-tracker-alternatives Published: 2026-11-10 Last updated: 2026-11-10 By the Preferly team _Disclosure: Preferly makes one of the options below. Options are listed alphabetically, with the price we found on each vendor's own pages, last checked Nov 10, 2026._ **Short answer:** if you don't need weekly tracking, you can check what AI says about your business without a monthly plan. Free checkers give you a quick score; one-time audits give you the answers and the fixes; some website builders include a basic view. Here are the options, with what each costs and covers. | Option | Type | Price (last checked Nov 10, 2026) | AI covered | Best for | |---|---|---|---|---| | Ahrefs free AI Visibility Checker | Free score | Free, no signup; brand name only, top-5 preview per section | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode | A quick look at mentions and cited sites | | BrightLocal | Local SEO suite with an AI tracker | From $31/mo per location billed yearly; $41 month to month | ChatGPT and Google's AI | Owners and agencies already using it for local SEO | | GoDaddy Visibility | Built into the builder | Included with a paid Websites + Marketing or Digital Marketing plan | ChatGPT and Claude, up to 20 questions | Owners already on GoDaddy | | Gumshoe | Audit first, then tracking | Free sample audit; $99 or $299/mo per project | 4 models on the sample | Teams that want an audit that leads into tracking | | Named In AI | One-time audit | Free Gemini check; $49 one-time Full Audit; $99/mo monitoring optional | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews | Trades that want a low-cost audit | | Preferly | One-time audit | Free 3-model check at [/start](https://www.preferly.ai/start); $99 once, no subscription | 10 models, including Claude Opus | Owners who want one report with fixes, and every claim checked against their website | | Proofsource Spotlight | Free tracker | Free forever, no card | First scan: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews; then 10 ChatGPT questions a month | Watching one brand without paying | | Semrush free AI Visibility checker | Free score | Free, no signup, 3 runs a day | ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews | A free 0-100 score | | Squarespace AI Visibility | Built into the builder | No separate subscription; runs use your plan's AI credits | ChatGPT and Gemini | Owners already on Squarespace | | Wix AI Visibility Overview | Built into the builder | Needs a Wix Premium plan; tests use AI credits | ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity | Owners already on Wix | | Yext Corvo | Listings assistant by text | Free; Plus $40/mo | ChatGPT and Google (whether they name you) | Owners who want listings kept right | ## When a monthly tracker is the better choice If you change your site often, run campaigns, or report AI visibility to someone every month, a tracker earns its fee. A one-time audit tells you where you stand and what to fix; it doesn't tell you next month's numbers. See [the best AI visibility audit tools for small businesses](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/best-ai-visibility-audit-tools) for trackers and audits side by side, or [Preferly vs Proofsource](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/preferly-vs-proofsource) for a closer look at an audit and a tracker. ## Where Preferly is weaker in this list No Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity or Copilot yet; one run per question; no listings or review checks; no tracking over time. If those gaps don't matter to you, start with the [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) or the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit). ## Questions ### Is there a free AI visibility tracker? Yes. Proofsource has a free-forever plan that checks 10 ChatGPT questions a month after a first scan, and Ahrefs and Semrush have free one-off checkers. Free tools show whether AI names you; most don't tell you what to fix. ### When is a one-time AI visibility audit enough? When you want to know where you stand and what to fix, and you don't need to report the numbers every month. Make the fixes, then check again. ### Does my website builder already check AI visibility? It might. GoDaddy, Squarespace and Wix each have a built-in AI visibility view on some plans. Each covers two or three AI tools. ## Sources - https://ahrefs.com/ai-visibility-checker - https://www.brightlocal.com/pricing/ - https://gumshoe.ai/pricing - https://namedinai.com - https://proofsource.co/pricing - https://www.semrush.com/free-tools/ai-search-visibility-checker/ - https://www.semrush.com/pricing/ai/ - https://www.godaddy.com/help/what-is-godaddys-ai-visibility-tool-42888 - https://www.squarespace.com/ai-visibility - https://support.wix.com/en/article/ai-visibility-overview - https://askcorvo.com - https://www.preferly.ai/pricing --- # Best AI visibility audit tools for small businesses (2026) > Nine AI visibility tools a small business can start without a sales call, A to Z: free checkers, one-time audits and monthly trackers, with prices. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/best-ai-visibility-audit-tools Published: 2026-11-10 Last updated: 2026-11-10 By the Preferly team _Disclosure: Preferly makes one of the tools on this list. We list tools alphabetically, show the price we found on each vendor's own site, and say where Preferly isn't the right pick. Every entry was last checked on Nov 10, 2026._ **Short answer:** for a first look at what AI says about your business, start with a free checker, then buy a one-time audit if you want the fixes. Pick a monthly tracker only if you'll act on the numbers every month. The 9 tools below cover all three, in alphabetical order. ## How we chose Tools a small business can start without a sales call, with a public price, that check what AI models say about a business. We read each vendor's own pages; prices are in US dollars unless noted. ## The list (alphabetical) **Ahrefs Brand Radar.** A free AI Visibility Checker with no signup: type a brand name and see mentions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, with a top-5 preview per section. Every paid Ahrefs plan includes a few custom prompts tracked daily; custom prompt packages start at $50/mo and the AI Visibility Index starts at $199/mo. _Good for:_ teams already on Ahrefs. _Not for:_ owners who want a fix list. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) **BrightLocal.** The Local AI Visibility Tracker is part of the Track plan, $31/mo per location billed yearly ($41 month to month), and covers ChatGPT and Google's AI. _Good for:_ local businesses and agencies already doing local SEO. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) **Gumshoe.** A free sample audit (4 buyer personas, 5 prompts each, 4 models, no card), then $99/mo per project to build your own plan or $299/mo per project for the Playbook. _Good for:_ an audit that leads into tracking. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) **Named In AI.** A free check on Gemini; a $49 one-time Full Audit across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, with a paste-ready fix kit and an agentic browsing test; $99/mo weekly monitoring. It says that if the audit doesn't surface at least 10 fixes, you pay nothing. _Good for:_ local trades on a tight budget. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) **Otterly.** Lite is $29/mo (15% less billed yearly), with a 7-day free trial and no card. From Nov 10, 2026, you pick your engines from ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Claude: Lite covers 16 prompts tracked daily on 4 engines, or 20 on 3. Standard is $189/mo and Premium $489/mo. _Good for:_ low-cost daily tracking. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) **Preferly.** A free check of 3 AI models at [/start](https://www.preferly.ai/start); the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit) is paid once and covers 10 AI models (including Claude Opus), ready in about 5 minutes. It shows who AI names instead of you, checks every claim AI makes about you against your website, tests 10+ AI crawlers and agent access, and gives you paste-ready fixes. No subscription. If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. _Not the right pick if_ you need Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity or Copilot today, weekly tracking, or listings and reviews management. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) **Proofsource.** A free-forever Spotlight plan (one full first scan of 100 answers on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews, then 10 ChatGPT questions checked monthly). Starter from $9/mo ($7.50/mo billed yearly); Pro from $75/mo; Managed $349/mo with a 3-month minimum. Paid self-serve plans pick from the same 4 engines; Google AI Mode, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek and Meta AI are switched on through a call or on Managed. Flags claims AI gets wrong. _Good for:_ teams that want tracking with confidence ranges. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) **Semrush AI Visibility.** A free checker with no signup (3 runs a day, 0-100 score) across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews. The paid AI Visibility Toolkit Base is $99/mo per domain billed annually, with 25 custom prompts tracked daily and mentions from ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity. _Good for:_ existing Semrush users. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) **Yext Corvo.** A free plan keeps your listings right on Google, Apple Maps, Bing and Facebook, and checks whether ChatGPT or Google names you; Corvo Plus is $40/mo, billed monthly, and adds more sites and help with your presence in AI search. _Good for:_ owners who want listings handled for them by text. (Last checked Nov 10, 2026.) ## Quick comparison | Tool | Free option | Paid from | One-time or monthly | Google AI Overviews / Perplexity | |---|---|---|---|---| | Ahrefs Brand Radar | Free checker, no signup | $50/mo | Monthly | Yes / yes | | BrightLocal | Free trial | $31/mo (yearly) | Monthly | Google's AI / not stated | | Gumshoe | Sample audit | $99/mo | Monthly | Not stated | | Named In AI | Gemini check | $49 | One-time (or $99/mo monitoring) | Yes / yes (full audit) | | Otterly | 7-day trial | $29/mo | Monthly | Yes / yes (you pick 3 or 4 of 7 engines on Lite) | | Preferly | 3-model check | $99 | One-time | Not yet | | Proofsource | Free-forever plan | $9/mo | Monthly | Yes / yes | | Semrush | Free checker (3 a day) | $99/mo per domain (yearly) | Monthly | AI Overviews yes; Perplexity on the paid toolkit | | Yext Corvo | Free plan | $40/mo | Monthly | Not stated | "Not stated" means it wasn't on the vendor's pages when we checked. For a closer look at two of these, see [Preferly vs Proofsource](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/preferly-vs-proofsource); if you'd rather not pay monthly, see [alternatives to monthly AI visibility trackers](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/ai-visibility-tracker-alternatives). ## Questions ### What is the cheapest way to check what AI says about my business? Start with a free checker. Ahrefs, Semrush, Named In AI, Proofsource and Preferly all have a free option. A free check shows whether AI names you; a paid audit or tracker shows why, and what to fix. ### Do I need a monthly AI visibility tracker? Only if you'll act on the numbers every month. If you want to know where you stand and what to fix, a one-time audit is usually enough. Run it again after you make changes. ### Which AI tools should an audit cover? The ones your customers use. ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Claude don't always agree, so a tool that checks several is more useful than one that checks a single model. ## Sources - https://ahrefs.com/ai-visibility-checker - https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar - https://www.brightlocal.com/pricing/ - https://gumshoe.ai/pricing - https://namedinai.com - https://otterly.ai/pricing - https://otterly.ai/blog/new-pricing-choose-your-ai-search-engines/ - https://help.otterly.ai/free-trial - https://proofsource.co/pricing - https://proofsource.co/docs/engines-and-models - https://www.semrush.com/free-tools/ai-search-visibility-checker/ - https://www.semrush.com/pricing/ai/ - https://askcorvo.com - https://www.preferly.ai/pricing --- # ChatGPT now lets you claim your business > OpenAI now lets eligible businesses claim a ChatGPT profile. Who can join the beta, what official insights show, and why a Preferly check still helps. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/businesses-in-chatgpt Published: 2026-11-10 Last updated: 2026-11-10 By the Preferly team _OpenAI facts below are from OpenAI's own public pages, last checked November 10, 2026. Preferly is not affiliated with OpenAI._ **Short answer:** OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on November 10, 2026. Eligible businesses can claim a profile in Business Hub, update their details after identity verification, and see aggregated insights about how they show up in ChatGPT. Official insights cover ChatGPT only. They don't compare you with competitors, don't check answers against your website, and don't test whether AI crawlers can reach your site. Claiming also does not guarantee ChatGPT will recommend you. That's why a Preferly check still helps. ## What the beta is Businesses in ChatGPT is a way for a company to claim its presence in ChatGPT and keep its information current. After you claim a listing and complete identity verification, you can update details such as your website, description, category, logo, and delivery or return policy. Retailers can connect a product feed with pricing and availability, including a Shopify feed. When a business appears in a model response, people can click through to its ChatGPT profile. A blue check on that profile means identity verification was approved; claiming the listing alone does not add the badge. ChatGPT may use the information you add, and it may still use other sources. OpenAI reviews profile changes, and updates can take time to appear in a listing or in an answer. OpenAI's policy requires that the information you add is accurate and kept current, and that you only manage a business you own or are authorized to represent. ## Who is eligible Not every business can claim a profile. OpenAI says eligible businesses where ChatGPT is offered can claim, and that eligibility depends on factors including industry, location, and verification and integrity checks. You must own the business or be authorized to represent it. You do not need a ChatGPT Ads account or an Enterprise agreement. Claiming is initially available to eligible businesses with a website. If you can't find your business, OpenAI says an eligible online business may see an option to add it. Local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing U.S. listing. Business Agents are a separate product with tighter rules. They're available to eligible ecommerce and online-service businesses in the United States that have a website and meet OpenAI's industry requirements. A published agent can answer customer questions from the information and instructions you provide. The chat is clearly labeled, kept apart from the customer's original ChatGPT conversation, and distinct from ChatGPT's independent answers. Agents can't complete purchases, bookings or order lookups; they can explain products and policies and link to your website. You do not need Shopify to set up an agent, and you do not need an agent to claim a profile. Eligible businesses can also sponsor a Business Agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT Ads. OpenAI says those placements are clearly labeled and separate from ChatGPT responses, and that advertising does not influence ChatGPT's independent answers. ## How to claim a profile in Business Hub OpenAI's help article lists these steps: 1. Sign in to ChatGPT and open Business Hub from the sidebar. Search for your business by name. 2. Select the listing that matches and confirm the ChatGPT account you'll use to manage it. 3. Verify with one of the methods shown: business phone, business email, website domain (a DNS TXT record) or Shopify store. 4. Wait for OpenAI to review the claim. You'll get an email with a decision or a request for more information. 5. Complete identity verification with Persona. This is required before you can publish changes to your business information, connect a product feed, view insights, or create an agent if you're eligible. You may need a government-issued ID, business registration information, and proof that you're authorized to represent the business. Existing OpenAI Enterprise customers and advertisers can work with their OpenAI representative to claim. Shopify merchants can connect their store from Business Hub or the Shopify admin. If the listing is already claimed, OpenAI provides a way to dispute ownership. If you see Contact support, the listing is locked and you need to ask OpenAI for help. ## What official insights show, and what they don't After your claim and Persona verification are approved, Business Hub can show aggregated insights for the past 28 days: - **Mentions.** For an online business, a mention counts when ChatGPT references the website. The brand name alone doesn't count. For a local business, a mention counts when ChatGPT shows a result for that location, even if the customer doesn't open the listing or visit the website. - **Website clicks.** How often people click through to your site. - **Discovery topics.** Common themes in ChatGPT answers that mentioned or cited your business. These are aggregate categories, not individual prompts, and they don't directly measure customer intent. OpenAI does not share individual user conversations or Business Agent chats with businesses. Insights are only available when there are enough conversations or interactions to meet certain thresholds. A blank metric can mean activity hasn't reached that threshold, data is still being collected, or reporting is unavailable; it doesn't necessarily mean zero activity. Official insights are ChatGPT-only. They don't tell you how you show up in other AI models, which competitors are named instead of you, whether an answer contradicts your website, or whether AI crawlers and agents can actually reach your pages. Claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales. ChatGPT continues to make independent recommendations and comparisons. ## Why you'd still run a Preferly check A claimed profile is a useful first-party source. It isn't an audit of what AI actually says about you. Preferly's [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) asks 3 AI models 5 customer questions and shows whether they name you and where they contradict your website. The [full report](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit) is $99, paid once, with no subscription. It asks 10 AI models, including ChatGPT, 5+ questions with web search on, names the competitors recommended instead of you, checks every claim they make about you against your website, tests 10+ AI crawlers, and gives you a fix list in priority order. There's a free re-scan within 30 days. If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. Use official insights to watch ChatGPT mentions and clicks after you've claimed. Use Preferly to see how you compare across models, whether the answers are accurate, and whether AI can reach your site. Start with the [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start). For the listing steps around a claim, see [how to get your business listed on ChatGPT](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/how-to-get-your-business-listed-on-chatgpt). For the website, listings and citation work that still affects recommendations, see [how to get ChatGPT to recommend your business](https://www.preferly.ai/how-to-get-chatgpt-to-recommend-my-business). ## Questions ### Does claiming my business make ChatGPT recommend me more often? No. OpenAI says claiming lets you manage the information you provide, and that it does not guarantee higher placement or sales. ChatGPT continues to make independent recommendations, and may still use other sources. Advertising is separate and, OpenAI says, does not influence those answers. ### Who can claim a ChatGPT business profile? Eligible businesses where ChatGPT is offered, if you own the business or are authorized to represent it. OpenAI says eligibility depends on industry, location, and verification and integrity checks, and that claiming is initially available to eligible businesses with a website. Local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing U.S. listing. Business Agents are a separate option for eligible ecommerce and online-service businesses in the United States. ### What do official ChatGPT insights show? After your claim and identity verification are approved, Business Hub can show aggregated activity over the past 28 days: mentions, website clicks and discovery topics. Insights appear only when activity reaches OpenAI's thresholds, and OpenAI does not share individual conversations. For an online business, a mention counts when ChatGPT references the website, not the brand name alone. A blank metric does not necessarily mean zero activity. ### Do I need a Business Agent or ads to claim my profile? No. OpenAI says claiming your business, publishing an agent and advertising are separate. After verification, you can manage your information and use available insights without publishing an agent or running ads. ## Sources - https://openai.com/index/introducing-businesses-chatgpt/ - https://openai.com/business/businesses-in-chatgpt/ - https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001635-setting-up-your-business-on-chatgpt - https://openai.com/policies/businesses-in-chatgpt/ - https://www.preferly.ai/pricing - https://www.preferly.ai/methodology --- # Preferly vs Proofsource: one-time AI visibility audit or ongoing tracking? > Preferly is a one-time $99 audit across 10 AI models. Proofsource tracks AI answers over time, with a free plan. Prices, engines and where each is stronger. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/preferly-vs-proofsource Published: 2026-11-10 Last updated: 2026-11-10 By the Preferly team _Preferly wrote this page. We've tried to be fair, including where Proofsource is the better pick. Every Proofsource fact below is from Proofsource's own public pages, last checked Nov 10, 2026._ **Short answer:** they solve different problems. Proofsource is a subscription platform (with a free plan) that tracks how AI answers about your brand change over time. Preferly is a one-time $99 audit that asks 10 AI models once, checks every claim they make about you against your website, and gives you paste-ready fixes. Pick Proofsource if you want ongoing tracking, or Google AI Overviews and Perplexity today. Pick Preferly if you want one clear report and a fix list without a subscription. ## At a glance | | Preferly | Proofsource (last checked Nov 10, 2026) | |---|---|---| | What it is | One-time AI visibility audit | Ongoing AI visibility tracking platform | | Price | Free check of 3 models at [/start](https://www.preferly.ai/start); full report $99 once, no subscription | Free-forever Spotlight plan, no card. Starter from $9/mo ($7.50/mo billed yearly). Pro from $75/mo; the 5,000-credit size is $150/mo ($125/mo billed yearly). Managed $349/mo with a 3-month minimum | | AI covered, self-serve | 10 models through their APIs: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude Opus, Grok, Meta Muse Spark, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, NVIDIA Nemotron and GLM | Free first scan and paid plans: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek and Meta AI are switched on through a call or on Managed | | Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity | Not yet | AI Overviews and Perplexity self-serve; AI Mode through a call or on Managed | | Free plan | One free check per website every 30 days (3 models, 5 questions) | Spotlight: one full first scan of 100 answers on 4 engines, then 10 ChatGPT questions checked monthly | | Time to results | Free check in about a minute; full report in about 5 minutes | First scan usually completes within a few minutes | | Wrong facts | Every claim AI made about you, checked against your website, with the evidence | Accuracy checks on claims AI gets wrong (first scan on Spotlight; included on Starter and up), against brand facts you provide | | Repeat runs and statistics | One run per question, plus one free re-scan within 30 days | Weekly or daily tracking, with a 95% confidence range on every number | | Crawler and bot checks | 10+ AI crawlers, plus a test agent in a real browser that tries to reach your booking or contact page | Bot view and AI traffic on Starter and up; schema and crawler fixes on Managed from $699 | | Fixes | Every fix in priority order, with steps and ready-to-paste code, plus an AI Fix Pack | Fixes and drafts written for you on Starter and up; content published for you on Managed. Fix check-ups re-ask the same questions on day 7, 14 and 28, then days 45 to 90 | | Input | Business name and website | A website, App Store or Google Play listing, Google Maps place, YouTube channel or Instagram profile | | Languages | English | 15 app languages; questions can be asked in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch and Japanese | | Money back or cancel | If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. | Cancel or move to Spotlight any time; unused credits roll over for up to 2 months | ## Where Proofsource is stronger - Google AI Overviews and Perplexity today. - Ongoing tracking, weekly or daily, with confidence ranges, alerts and fix check-ups through day 90. - Citation, competitor and share-of-voice views on every plan, including the free one. - Start from any link (an app listing, a Maps place, a channel), and work in 15 app languages. - A free agency workspace with unlimited clients. - A free-forever plan, so a small business can watch one brand without paying. ## Where Preferly is stronger - 10 AI models in one self-serve report, with no sales call, including Claude Opus, Grok, Meta Muse Spark and DeepSeek. - $99 once, with no subscription or credits to manage. (Proofsource Starter starts at $9 a month, so price alone isn't the reason to pick Preferly.) - Claims are checked against your own website automatically, with the evidence beside each one, so you don't have to enter your brand facts first. - Paste-ready fixes and an AI Fix Pack you can use without logging into a platform. ## Who should pick which - **Proofsource:** marketing teams and agencies that want weekly or daily tracking, or need Google AI Overviews and Perplexity now. - **Preferly:** owners who want to know, once, what AI says about them and what to fix, without a subscription. Start with the [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start), or get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit). For more options, see [the best AI visibility audit tools for small businesses](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/best-ai-visibility-audit-tools) and [alternatives to monthly AI visibility trackers](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/ai-visibility-tracker-alternatives). ## Questions ### Is Proofsource cheaper than Preferly? It can be. Proofsource has a free-forever plan and a Starter plan from $9 a month. Preferly is $99 once with no subscription. Over a year, Starter costs about the same as one Preferly report, so pick on what you need, not on price alone. ### Does Preferly check Google AI Overviews or Perplexity? Not yet. Preferly asks 10 AI models through their APIs. Proofsource's free first scan and paid plans include Google AI Overviews and Perplexity. ### Can I use both? Yes. Some owners run a one-time Preferly report to find what to fix, then use a tracker to watch the numbers afterwards. ## Sources - https://proofsource.co/pricing - https://proofsource.co/docs/engines-and-models - https://proofsource.co/docs/how-often-scans-run - https://proofsource.co/features/ai-fix-verification-before-after - https://proofsource.co/features/any-link-ai-visibility-onboarding - https://proofsource.co/features/multilingual-ai-visibility-tracking - https://www.preferly.ai/pricing --- # Preferly is on Product Hunt: see what AI says about your business > See what AI tells customers about your business. Try Preferly's free 3-model check, or get a 10-model audit and prioritized fixes for $99 once. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/launch Published: 2026-11-09 Last updated: 2026-11-09 By the Preferly team Preferly is live on Product Hunt. If you've wondered what AI tells potential customers about your business, you can start with a free check across 3 AI models. [Start your free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start). ## See the answers, then decide what to fix A customer can ask AI for a business recommendation without ever visiting your website. Checking your search rankings alone doesn't show you what that answer says. Preferly asks customer-style questions and turns the responses into an audit you can act on. The full audit covers 10 AI models and helps you see: - Whether the answers recommend your business, and which competitors they mention instead. - Where AI contradicts your website, with the evidence alongside the claim. - Whether AI crawlers can reach and read your site. - Which fixes to prioritize, with paste-ready code and an AI Fix Pack. The point is to move from "what does AI say about us?" to a concrete list of things to check and change. ## Free check or full audit The **free check covers 3 AI models**. It's a starting point for understanding how your business appears in AI answers. The **[full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit)** covers 10 AI models and costs $99 once. There's no subscription. It adds the fuller report and prioritized fix plan for owners who want to work through what the audit finds. You can [read the example report](https://www.preferly.ai/example) before buying. It uses a fictional example business with names and some results changed; it is not evidence of a customer's outcomes. ## A snapshot, not a promise of recommendations AI answers vary by question, model and time. An audit is a snapshot of the tested answers, not a census of every answer a customer might see. API responses can differ from the consumer apps. Fixing a website's access or information problems does not guarantee that an AI service will recommend it. Preferly shows what it tested and gives you a practical starting point. Our [methodology](https://www.preferly.ai/methodology) explains the scope and limitations. ## Tell us what you'd want to check We're sharing Preferly on Product Hunt to hear which questions business owners most want answered. What would you ask AI about your own business: whether it recommends you, whether it describes your services accurately, or whether it can read your site at all? [See Preferly on Product Hunt](https://www.producthunt.com/products/preferly?launch=preferly). [Start your free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) · [See an example report](https://www.preferly.ai/example) · [Compare the free check and full audit](https://www.preferly.ai/pricing) --- # Can you pay ChatGPT to recommend your business? > ChatGPT now sells ads, but OpenAI says ads don't change its answers. What a ChatGPT ad gets you, what it costs, and how businesses get named for free. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/can-you-pay-chatgpt-to-recommend-your-business Published: 2026-11-06 Last updated: 2026-11-06 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** you can pay for an ad in ChatGPT, but you can't pay to be recommended in its answer. Since early 2026, OpenAI has sold ads that appear below ChatGPT's responses for users on the Free and Go plans. OpenAI says the ads are labelled, kept separate from the answer, and that "advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides." The businesses ChatGPT names in the answer come from what it finds and confirms when it searches, and that part is earned. That's a real change from a year ago, when the honest answer was simply "no". So it's worth being precise about what you can and can't buy. ## What ChatGPT ads are On Oct 21, 2026, [OpenAI said](https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-ads-expands-26-new-countries/) ChatGPT ads had been running for just over eight months, that more than 100,000 advertisers had used them, and that they were available in 89 countries. Businesses can buy them through OpenAI's self-serve Ads Manager, which is still labelled a beta, or through agency and technology partners. From [OpenAI's ads help page](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001207-ads-in-chatgpt-the-basics): - **Where they show:** below ChatGPT's responses, as a unit with your business name, logo, headline, short description, image and a link. - **Who sees them:** users on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro and Business plans are ad-free, and so are accounts identified as belonging to users under 18. - **How they're matched:** by the context of the conversation, your landing page and ad copy, and "context hints" you write about the topics where your ad fits. OpenAI says the hints aren't exact-match keywords and don't guarantee delivery. - **How you pay:** per thousand impressions or per valid click, in what OpenAI calls a relevance-weighted, second-price auction. For click campaigns it suggests starting with a maximum bid of $3 to $5 a click. OpenAI also says conversations stay private from advertisers and that it doesn't sell user data. ## What an ad doesn't buy An ad sits under the answer. It doesn't put you in the answer. If a customer asks "who's the best roofer in Austin?", the three or four companies ChatGPT names in its reply are chosen the same way whether or not anyone is advertising. Your ad might show beneath that reply, labelled as an ad, next to a list that names your competitors. That matters because of where the decision happens. In [BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/), 45% of US consumers said they'd used AI tools for local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before, and 63% of those AI users said they trust the recommendations. The named businesses get that trust. An ad is a paid interruption next to it, and it stops the day your budget does. There's also a reach limit. Paying subscribers never see ads, so an ad can't reach every ChatGPT user who asks about your kind of business. Every user can see the answer. ## Watch out for anyone selling "paid placement" Since ChatGPT ads arrived, some vendors blur the line, with offers to "get you into ChatGPT" for a fee. Ask exactly what they're selling. If it's ads, that's fine, but call it ads. If it's a promise to place you in ChatGPT's answers through a deal or a back door, be skeptical: OpenAI says advertising doesn't influence the answers, and it offers no paid route into them. Legitimate help looks like fixing what ChatGPT reads about you, getting you listed and mentioned in the places it searches, and measuring whether you're named. ## How businesses get recommended for free Being named in the answer costs time rather than a bid. The basics: ### Let ChatGPT read your site ChatGPT's search crawler is OAI-SearchBot. [OpenAI says](https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots) sites that block it won't appear in ChatGPT search answers. Check robots.txt, and check that no bot check or firewall stops automated visitors. Our [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check) does both. ### State your facts plainly What you do, where, hours, prices and contact details, in text on your pages, matching your listings. ### Be where ChatGPT looks [BrightLocal's study of 200,000 local AI searches](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-ai-visibility-study/) (Sep 2026) found business websites made up 42% of all citations, and that ChatGPT leaned on Yelp, Bing and business websites. Claim your Yelp and industry listings and earn mentions on local "best of" pages. Our post on [getting your business listed on ChatGPT](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/how-to-get-your-business-listed-on-chatgpt) walks through it. ### Find out why competitors get named When AI keeps naming the same rivals, the sites it cites for them show you where to be. See [why AI recommends your competitors](https://www.preferly.ai/why-ai-recommends-competitors). ## Ads and AEO can work together None of this means ads are a bad idea. If your margins support it, a ChatGPT ad campaign can bring visits while you work on being named. But ads are rented reach. Answer engine optimization (AEO), the work of being one of the businesses AI names, keeps paying after the campaign ends, and there's no click price that rises every year. The sensible order is to find out where you stand in the answers first, then decide how much paid reach you need on top. ## Start with what ChatGPT says about you Preferly checks the part you can't buy. The [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) asks 3 AI models 5 customer questions and shows whether you're named and where AI contradicts your website. The [full report](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit) asks 10 AI models, including ChatGPT, 5+ questions with web search on, names every competitor recommended instead of you and lists each fix in priority order. It's $99, paid once, with a free re-scan within 30 days. If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. Preferly has no deal with any AI company and can't place a business in an answer. ## Questions ### How much do ChatGPT ads cost? OpenAI's help page says ads are bought per impression or per valid click in an auction, and it suggests starting with a maximum bid of $3 to $5 a click for click campaigns. Self-serve campaigns also have a minimum daily budget that varies by country. ### Who sees ChatGPT ads? Users on ChatGPT's Free and Go plans. OpenAI says it doesn't show ads on Plus, Pro or Business plans, or to accounts it identifies as belonging to users under 18. ### Can an agency or tool pay to get me into ChatGPT's answers? OpenAI says advertising doesn't influence ChatGPT's answers, so be wary of anyone selling a guaranteed place in them. What an agency or tool can do is fix what ChatGPT reads about you and track whether you're named. ### Does running ChatGPT ads help my business get recommended? OpenAI says advertising doesn't influence ChatGPT's answers. An ad can bring clicks while it runs; being named in the answer depends on what ChatGPT can find and confirm about you. ## Sources - https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-ads-expands-26-new-countries/ - https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001207-ads-in-chatgpt-the-basics - https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots - https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/ - https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-ai-visibility-study/ --- # How do I get my business listed on ChatGPT? > You can now claim a ChatGPT business profile, if you're eligible. How the Business Hub beta works, where ChatGPT still finds businesses, and what to fix first. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/how-to-get-your-business-listed-on-chatgpt Published: 2026-11-06 Last updated: 2026-11-10 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** eligible businesses can now claim a ChatGPT profile. OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on November 10, 2026: you claim the profile in Business Hub, then, after identity verification, you can update your details and, if you sell products, connect a product feed. Claiming does not guarantee ChatGPT will name you or place you higher. ChatGPT still writes answers from your website, listings such as Yelp, and other pages that mention you, so you should also make sure it can read your site and finds you in the places it already looks. If you're used to Google, where you claim a Business Profile and you're on the map, this is closer to that idea than ChatGPT was before. The difference is important: ChatGPT continues to make its own recommendations, may still use other sources, and OpenAI says claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales. Our [guide to Businesses in ChatGPT](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/businesses-in-chatgpt) covers who can claim, how to do it, and what official insights show. ## Where ChatGPT finds businesses When a customer asks ChatGPT for "a family dentist in Tampa" or "a plumber open on Sunday", it usually searches the web, reads what it finds and writes a short list. OpenAI's [help page on ChatGPT search](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-searching-the-web-with-chatgpt) says it can use your approximate location for local results and may share it with "trusted third-party providers" for nearby business listings, without naming them. What we know about the sources: - **Your own website.** OpenAI's crawler for search is called OAI-SearchBot. Its [crawler page](https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots) says sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot "will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers". In [BrightLocal's study of 200,000 local AI searches](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-ai-visibility-study/) (Sep 2026), business websites made up 93% of the domains cited and 42% of all citations. - **Yelp.** Yelp says its reviews, ratings, photos and business details appear in ChatGPT, and that ChatGPT users can book tables through Yelp at restaurants that use its booking tools ([Yelp](https://blog.yelp.com/news/yelp-chatgpt-integration/); [Axios, July 2026](https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/yelp-reviews-chatgpt-geo-partnership)). - **A claimed ChatGPT profile.** If you're eligible, you can now add and update business details in [Business Hub](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/businesses-in-chatgpt). ChatGPT may use that information, and it may still draw on other sources. - **Other listings and articles.** BrightLocal found ChatGPT leaning on Yelp, Bing and business websites, while Google's own AI tools drew heavily on Google Business Profile. Directories, "best of" lists and local news also show up as sources. Those doors still matter. The new profile is an extra source you control, not a replacement for a readable website and consistent listings. ## Claim your business, and connect a product feed if you sell online In Business Hub, companies can claim their organization and, once verified, update key details. OpenAI says claiming is initially available to eligible businesses with a website, and that eligibility depends on factors including industry, location, and verification and integrity checks. Local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing U.S. listing. You must own the business or be authorized to represent it. Retailers can connect a product feed with pricing and availability, including a Shopify feed. OpenAI already runs an [application for merchants](https://chatgpt.com/merchants/) to share a product feed for ChatGPT shopping; stores on Shopify or Etsy have been connected that way, shopping is live for US users, and purchases finish on the merchant's own site. A feed is still optional: ChatGPT can find products by crawling your site, and the feed gives you more control. Connecting a feed does not publish a Business Agent or guarantee that ChatGPT recommends your products. A Business Agent is a separate, optional step for eligible ecommerce and online-service businesses in the United States. The customer chat is clearly labeled and kept apart from ChatGPT's independent answers. You do not need to publish an agent, or run ads, to claim a profile. For the steps to claim, the eligibility caveats, and what official insights do and don't show, read [Businesses in ChatGPT](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/businesses-in-chatgpt). ## How to get your business "listed": six steps ### 1. Claim your ChatGPT profile if you're eligible Sign in to ChatGPT, open Business Hub from the sidebar and search for your business. Verify with a business phone, business email, website domain or Shopify store, then complete identity verification so you can publish changes. Keep the facts you add identical to your website. Claiming does not guarantee you'll show up in answers; the steps below still matter. ### 2. Let ChatGPT's crawler in Open yoursite.com/robots.txt. If it blocks OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT search can't show your pages. Blocking GPTBot, OpenAI's training crawler, is a separate choice that doesn't affect search, as we explain in [GPTBot vs OAI-SearchBot](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/gptbot-vs-oai-searchbot). Also check for a bot check or firewall that stops automated visitors. In [our study](https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study) of 3,693 small business sites, 216 showed our crawler a bot check, and most of those owners had never chosen to block AI. Our [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check) shows what 10+ AI crawlers see on your site. ### 3. Put your basic facts in plain text Name, what you do, the area you serve, address, phone, hours and prices should be readable text on your pages. Facts that live only in a photo, a PDF menu or a booking widget are easy for AI to miss. A short "About" paragraph that says "We're a family dental practice in South Tampa" does more for ChatGPT than a clever tagline. ### 4. Complete the listings ChatGPT still reads Start with Yelp, since it has a content deal with OpenAI. Then the listings that matter in your trade, such as legal, medical or home-services directories, plus Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and Facebook. Use the exact same name, address, phone and hours everywhere, including on your ChatGPT profile if you have one. When your site and a listing disagree, ChatGPT may repeat the wrong one. ### 5. Get mentioned where customers compare options ChatGPT tends to name businesses that other sites already name: local "best of" lists, news stories, community sites and review pages. A few genuine mentions on pages that rank for "best [service] in [city]" usually matter more than dozens of thin directory entries. Our guide on [where AI gets business information](https://www.preferly.ai/where-ai-gets-business-information) covers the sources in more detail. ### 6. Check what ChatGPT says, then check again Ask the questions a new customer would ask, without your business name, in a private window. Note whether you're named, which competitors are named instead and which sites are cited. Answers change from one run to the next, so ask each question more than once and look for the pattern. ## Why this matters now [BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/) found 45% of US consumers used AI tools for local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before, with ChatGPT the most used. Those customers see a short list of names. If you're missing from it, you lose the job without ever knowing you were in the running. ## See where you stand in a minute Before fixing anything, find out what ChatGPT and other AI models say about you today. Preferly's [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) asks 3 AI models 5 customer questions and shows whether you're named and where AI contradicts your website. The [full report](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit) asks 10 AI models, including ChatGPT, 5+ questions with web search on, names the competitors recommended instead of you, and gives a fix list in priority order. It costs $99, paid once, with a free re-scan within 30 days. If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. For the longer version of steps 3 to 5, read [how to get ChatGPT to recommend your business](https://www.preferly.ai/how-to-get-chatgpt-to-recommend-my-business). For how to claim the new profile, read [Businesses in ChatGPT](https://www.preferly.ai/blog/businesses-in-chatgpt). ## Questions ### Is there a ChatGPT business directory I can sign up for? Yes, in beta. Eligible businesses can claim a profile in OpenAI's Business Hub. It isn't open to every business: eligibility depends on industry, location and verification checks, and local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing U.S. listing. Claiming does not guarantee ChatGPT will name you or place you higher. See our guide to Businesses in ChatGPT. ### How long does it take to show up on ChatGPT? OpenAI says changes to robots.txt take about 24 hours to reach its search systems. Changes to your own pages can show up once its crawler revisits them. Updates you make in Business Hub are reviewed by OpenAI and can take time to appear in a listing or a ChatGPT answer. Getting named on other sites usually takes weeks to months. ### Can I pay to be listed on ChatGPT? You can buy ads in ChatGPT, which appear below answers for users on the Free and Go plans. Eligible businesses can also sponsor a Business Agent, which OpenAI says is a labeled ad destination, separate from ChatGPT's own answers. OpenAI says advertising doesn't influence those answers, so an ad doesn't put you in the list of businesses ChatGPT recommends. Claiming a profile doesn't require ads, and it also doesn't guarantee a recommendation. ### Does my Google Business Profile get me listed on ChatGPT? Not directly. BrightLocal's 2026 study of 200,000 local AI searches found Google Business Profile is heavily used by Google's AI tools but hardly used by ChatGPT, which leaned on Yelp, Bing and business websites. ## Sources - https://openai.com/index/introducing-businesses-chatgpt/ - https://openai.com/business/businesses-in-chatgpt/ - https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001635-setting-up-your-business-on-chatgpt - https://openai.com/policies/businesses-in-chatgpt/ - https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots - https://chatgpt.com/merchants/ - https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-searching-the-web-with-chatgpt - https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-ai-visibility-study/ - https://blog.yelp.com/news/yelp-chatgpt-integration/ - https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/yelp-reviews-chatgpt-geo-partnership - https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-ads-expands-26-new-countries/ - https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/ --- # AI crawler statistics for small business websites: 40 numbers from 3,693 sites (2026) > Every number from our October 2026 study of 3,693 small business websites: robots.txt blocks, bot checks, broken homepages, Cloudflare and builders. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/ai-crawler-statistics Published: 2026-11-05 Last updated: 2026-11-05 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** in October 2026 we checked 4,111 small business websites in 26 US cities and could analyze 3,693. 85.6% were fully open to AI crawlers. About 1 in 7 weren't, and only about 3% of sites block AI crawlers on purpose. The rest were stopped by bot checks and broken homepages. Every number from the study is below, with what it's out of. ## The headline numbers 1. Sites sampled: **4,111** small and local business websites, 26 US cities and metros, 14 categories. 2. Sites analyzed: **3,693** (246 dead domains and 172 inconclusive ones excluded). 3. Fully open to AI crawlers: **3,163 of 3,693 (85.6%)**. 4. Not fully open: **530 of 3,693 (14.4%)**, about 1 in 7. 5. Of those 530, not caused by a robots.txt rule: **415 (78%)**. ## What stopped AI crawlers (share of all 3,693) 6. Bot check shown to an identified crawler: **216 (5.8%)**. 7. Homepage didn't load: **183 (5.0%)**. 8. robots.txt blocks some AI crawlers: **86 (2.3%)**. 9. robots.txt blocks all major AI crawlers: **29 (0.8%)**. 10. robots.txt couldn't be read: **16 (0.4%)**. ## robots.txt (share of the 3,370 sites with a readable robots.txt) 11. Block at least one of the 9 major AI crawlers: **109 (3.2%)**. 12. Block all 9: **29 (0.9%)**. 13. No robots.txt at all: **433 (12.8%)**; that's allowed by default. 14. Meta-ExternalAgent blocked: **107 (3.2%)**. 15. GPTBot blocked: **105 (3.1%)**. 16. Applebot-Extended blocked: **97 (2.9%)**. 17. ClaudeBot blocked: **96 (2.8%)**. 18. Google-Extended blocked: **79 (2.3%)**. 19. PerplexityBot blocked: **42 (1.2%)**. 20. OAI-SearchBot blocked: **34 (1.0%)**. 21. ChatGPT-User blocked: **33 (1.0%)**. 22. Claude-SearchBot blocked: **32 (0.9%)**. 23. Block GPTBot but allow OAI-SearchBot: **72 (2.1%)**. 24. Blocking sites that name AI crawlers rather than all bots: **about 83%**. 25. Wildcard rule blocking every crawler from the homepage: **1.2%**. 26. Cloudflare's managed AI section in robots.txt: **30 (0.9%)**; about a quarter of all sites that block any AI crawler. 27. A Content-Signal line in robots.txt: **132 (3.9%)**. ## Bot checks (share of all 3,693) 28. Cloudflare: **112 (3.0%)**. 29. SiteGround: **99 (2.7%)**. 30. Akamai and AWS WAF: **5 (0.1% each or less)**. ## Homepages that didn't load (183 sites) 31. HTTPS certificate or TLS error: **140** (3.8% of all sites). 32. HTTP error from the server: **33**. 33. Redirect loop: **6**. ## Cloudflare 34. Sites behind Cloudflare: **1,481 of 3,693 (40.1%)**. 35. Open to AI crawlers: **88.2%** behind Cloudflare vs **84.0%** not on Cloudflare. 36. Homepage didn't load: **0.6%** behind Cloudflare vs **7.9%** not on Cloudflare. ## Website builders and structured data 37. Wix, Shopify, GoDaddy and Weebly sites open to AI crawlers, of those whose homepage loaded: **100%** (233, 184, 153 and 80 sites). 38. Homepages with valid JSON-LD structured data: **1,830 of 3,283 (55.7%)**. 39. Valid JSON-LD on Squarespace homepages: **277 of 368 (75.3%)**; on Weebly: **5 of 80 (6.2%)**. ## By type of business (share of each category's sites) 40. Most open: vets and pet services **90.8%** (of 207). Least open: hotels and lodging **79.7%** (of 202). Most bot checks: restaurants and bars **9.6%** (of 342). The full per-category table is in the [study](https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study). Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. ## How we measured - Our crawler, PreferlyBot, identified itself, followed robots.txt and requested only robots.txt and the homepage, once per site, on Oct 22, 2026. - "Bot check" means a challenge page instead of the homepage, as a new, clearly identified crawler sees it. Large AI crawlers may be treated differently. - Sites that didn't respond, or redirected to plain http, were excluded, so the real "didn't load" share is likely a bit higher. - Builders were detected only on homepages that loaded. - Full method, charts and the downloadable data: [How many small business websites block AI crawlers?](https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study) _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Sample drawn from OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL._ ## Questions ### Can I use these numbers? Yes. The aggregate data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), with a link to https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. ### How were sites chosen? From OpenStreetMap listings of small and local businesses in 26 US cities and metros, across 14 categories. We checked each site's robots.txt and homepage once, on Oct 22, 2026. ### Will you update it? We plan to re-run the study. Each update will show its date, and this page will say what changed. --- # Google clicks cost more and free clicks are disappearing. Why your business needs an AEO strategy now > Google's cost per click keeps rising and 68% of searches end without a click. Why an AEO strategy is now a must for small businesses, and where it starts. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/google-ads-cost-per-click-rising-aeo-strategy Published: 2026-11-05 Last updated: 2026-11-05 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** Google Ads clicks keep getting more expensive. Google's average cost per click rose 7% in 2025 and 4% year over year in Q3 2026. At the same time, the free clicks are drying up: 68% of US Google searches now end without a click, and an AI Overview at the top of the page goes with a 58% lower click-through rate for the top organic result. And customers are asking AI instead: 45% of US consumers asked AI for local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before. Paying for visits costs more, earning them for free is harder, and more of the choice happens inside an AI answer. That makes an answer engine optimization (AEO) strategy a basic part of being found, not an experiment. ## Quick picks - **Who this is for:** owners who get new customers through search (ads, organic, or both) and want a baseline of what AI says about them before they spend more on clicks. - **Who this is not for:** teams looking for a monthly AI-visibility dashboard. Preferly is a one-time AI visibility audit ($99, paid once) plus a free check, not a monitoring subscription. - **Paid clicks:** Alphabet reported cost per click up 7% in 2025 and 4% year over year in Q3 2026. WordStream's 2026 average across 13,474 US search campaigns was $5.42 (attorneys $9.87, restaurants $2.05). - **Free clicks:** 68% of US Google searches end without a click (SparkToro / Similarweb, Jan–Apr 2026). An AI Overview goes with a 58% lower click-through rate for the top organic result (Ahrefs). - **AI recommendations:** 45% of US consumers asked AI for local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% (BrightLocal, 2026). - **Where to start:** the [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) asks 3 AI models 5 customer questions in about a minute. The full report covers 10 models. See an [example report](https://www.preferly.ai/example). ## Paid clicks: up every year Three independent sources point the same way. ### Alphabet filings (Google Search and other properties) **Source type: company filings.** Alphabet reports how much the average paid click on Google Search and its other properties changed from a year earlier. In 2025, cost per click rose 7% and paid clicks rose 6%. In 2026 it rose 5% in Q1, 3% in Q2 and 4% in Q3, while paid clicks grew 13%, 13% and 8%. Google is selling more ad clicks, and each one costs a little more. ### Small and mid-size advertisers (WordStream) **Source type: agency benchmark.** WordStream by LocaliQ studies its customers' search campaigns each year. Its 2025 report put the average cost per click at $5.26, up 12.88%, with costs rising in 87% of industries. Its 2026 report (13,474 US campaigns, April 2025 to March 2026) put it at $5.42, about 3% higher, and more than twice the $2.32 of 2016. WordStream calls the year "fairly stable", and conversion rates rose in 87% of industries, so ads still work. They just cost more to keep. Local categories pay the most. Attorneys averaged $9.87 a click, home improvement $8.33 and dentists $8.00, against $2.05 for restaurants and food. Real estate clicks rose 27.27% in a year, and personal services and health and fitness about 23% each. ### Large advertisers (Tinuiti) **Source type: large-agency spend report.** Tinuiti, an agency managing more than $4 billion a year in ad spend, found Google Search cost per click roughly flat from Q3 2025 to Q2 2026, then up 4% in Q3 2026. As MediaPost reported, Tinuiti ties most of that to Amazon leaving almost all US Google Shopping auctions in mid-2025, and other large retailers filling the gap since. ## Is AI behind the price rises? Nobody has proven it. Google's 10-Q says cost per click moves with "device mix, geographic mix, advertiser spending, ongoing product and policy changes, product mix, property mix" and exchange rates. It doesn't single out AI. Agencies told Digiday in May 2026 that some clients saw cost per click rise about 10% to 15% over the year, and a few as much as 25%. They pointed to more bidders in each auction (Adthena estimated 35% more advertisers year over year) and to AI Max, Google's AI-driven search campaign type. One agency head said clients were moving money into paid search "because of SEO being less valuable." That's a plausible link, not a measured cause. But for a business owner, the cause matters less than the direction. Whatever is driving it, the paid route costs more each year, and the free route is shrinking fast. Ads are moving into the AI answers too. In October 2026 Google expanded ads in AI Mode to 10 more countries and began showing them in follow-up questions in the US. On its Q3 2026 call, as The Verge reported, Google said it was seeing "lower monetization" from AI Mode ads so far. Either way, an ad placed beside an answer is a different thing from being one of the businesses the answer names. For how Overviews pick sources, see [Google AI Overviews](https://www.preferly.ai/google-ai-overviews). ## Free clicks: disappearing This is where the numbers are large. - **Zero-click searches — 68%.** SparkToro, using Similarweb's US desktop and mobile panel for January to April 2026, found 68.01% of Google searches ended without a click to any site. The 2024 figure was 60.45%, from a different panel, so the two aren't a perfect match. - **AI Overviews vs top organic — 58% lower CTR.** Ahrefs compared 300,000 keywords between December 2023 and December 2025. When an AI Overview appeared, the top organic result's click-through rate was 58% lower than expected. - **Clicks inside the summary — 1%.** Pew Research tracked the browsing of 900 US adults in March 2025. When a search showed an AI summary, people clicked a result in 8% of visits, against 15% without one. They clicked a link inside the summary in 1% of visits. The effect on ad clicks is mixed. Seer Interactive's 2026 study of 53 brands found paid click-through rate on searches with an AI Overview rose slightly over 2025, from 14.6% to 16.2%, while on searches without one it fell from 26% to 21.8%. So the evidence on ad clicks is mixed. Either way, you pay for each visit. ## Customers are asking AI instead The third change is the one that matters most for a local business. BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 US adults) found that 45% of US consumers asked AI for local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before. ChatGPT was the most used, by 31%, followed by Google AI Mode at 23%. Among adults aged 30 to 44, it was 64%. And 63% of people who use AI for recommendations said they trust them. When someone asks ChatGPT or Gemini for "a good dentist near me", the answer names a few businesses, and that short list is often where the decision gets made. If you're on it, you reached that customer without paying for the click. If you're not, no analytics report tells you that you were left out. Preferly's [AI search for dentists](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-dentists) page covers what a practice can fix so AI can find and confirm it. ## Why AEO is now a necessity Put the three changes together. Paid search still works, but each visit costs a little more every year. Organic search sends fewer visits for the questions AI answers. And a growing share of customers skip the list of links and take the AI's short list. A business that only budgets for ads and classic SEO is paying more to compete for a shrinking part of the journey. Answer engine optimization (AEO, also called GEO) is the work of being one of the businesses an AI names, with your facts stated the way your website states them. It doesn't replace ads or SEO, and much of it is good SEO done carefully. The difference is the goal: a mention in the answer, not a blue link. And the cost is mostly your time, not a bid that rises every year. See [what generative engine optimization is](https://www.preferly.ai/what-is-generative-engine-optimization). An AEO strategy has three parts: know where you stand, fix what AI can't read or gets from the wrong source, and check again to see what moved. ## Step one: find out what AI says about you today *About a minute for the free check · 10 models on the full report · paid once* Every AEO strategy starts with a baseline, because you can't fix what you haven't seen. Ask the questions a new customer would ask, without naming your business, and look at three things: 1. **Named or not.** In how many answers, and how high in the list. 2. **Facts right or wrong.** Hours, prices, services and location, compared line by line with your website. Where AI contradicts your website, customers see the wrong version. 3. **Who instead.** Which competitors show up, and which sites AI cited when it named them. See [is AI recommending my competitors](https://www.preferly.ai/is-ai-recommending-my-competitors). You can do this by hand in a few AI tools. It's slow, answers vary from run to run, and each model draws on different sources, so one tool's answer doesn't tell you much about the others. Preferly runs this baseline for you. The [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) asks 3 AI models 5 customer questions in about a minute and shows your score, how often AI names you and up to 2 places where AI contradicts your website. The [full report](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit) asks 10 leading AI models, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude Opus and Grok, 5+ questions with web search on. It names every competitor AI recommends instead of you, checks every claim against your site and lists each fix in priority order. It's $99, paid once, with one free re-scan within 30 days. Compare the free check and the paid report on [pricing](https://www.preferly.ai/pricing), or see an [example report](https://www.preferly.ai/example). ## Step two: fix what AI reads *Site and listing basics · plain text · matching schema · same facts on listings* These are the basics that decide whether AI can find and state your business correctly. 1. **Crawler access.** Check robots.txt for rules that block GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot or Google-Extended. A bot check or firewall can also stop them without you knowing. Our [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check) shows what each crawler sees. 2. **Plain-text facts.** Hours, phone, address, service area and prices should be readable text on your pages, not only in images, PDFs or a booking widget. 3. **Matching structured data.** LocalBusiness (or the right subtype) markup with your name, address, phone and hours, kept in step with the page. See [schema markup for AI search](https://www.preferly.ai/schema-markup-for-ai-search). 4. **Consistent listings.** Your site, Google Business Profile and major listings should give the same hours, phone and address. 5. **Pages that answer the question.** A page that answers "how much does X cost" or "do you offer Y" in its first lines gives AI something to quote. See [how AI Overviews pick sources](https://www.preferly.ai/google-ai-overviews). 6. **Competitor citation paths.** If AI keeps citing the same directories or review sites for them, those are the places to be listed too. See [why AI recommends competitors](https://www.preferly.ai/why-ai-recommends-competitors). ## Step three: check again AI answers change as models update and as they find your fixes. Re-run the same questions after your changes, so you compare like with like. The full Preferly report includes one free re-scan within 30 days. ## Start with what AI says now Rising click prices and vanishing free clicks are measured. What isn't measured for most businesses is what AI tells customers about them. That's the gap an AEO strategy closes first. The [free check](https://www.preferly.ai/start) takes about a minute. If you want the full picture, the $99 AI visibility audit covers 10 models with every fix in priority order. If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. Preferly doesn't cover Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity or Microsoft Copilot yet. See an [example report](https://www.preferly.ai/example) or [compare pricing](https://www.preferly.ai/pricing). ## Sources - Alphabet, Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (filed Oct 29, 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000084/goog-20260930.htm - Alphabet, Form 10-K for 2025: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm - WordStream by LocaliQ, "Search Advertising Benchmarks by Industry" (2026): https://www.wordstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ws-guide-2026-google-ads-benchmarks.pdf - WordStream, "Google Ads Benchmarks 2025": https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2025-google-ads-benchmarks - MediaPost, "Google Paid Search Becoming More Expensive" (Oct 16, 2026), on Tinuiti's Q3 2026 Digital Ads Benchmark Report: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/418796/google-search-ad-buys-becoming-more-expensive.html - Digiday, "'CPC pain is real': One year on, Google's AI Max has pushed up search budgets – and costs" (May 6, 2026): https://digiday.com/media-buying/cpc-pain-is-real-one-year-on-googles-ai-max-has-pushed-up-search-budgets-and-costs/ - SparkToro, "In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click" (June 2026): https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/ - Ahrefs, "Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58%" (Feb 4, 2026): https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks-update/ - Pew Research Center, "Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears" (July 22, 2025): https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/ - Seer Interactive, "AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update" (April 2026): https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/aio-impact-on-google-ctr-2026-update - Google, "Ads in AI Mode expand to new markets" (Oct 28, 2026): https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/ads-in-ai-mode-global/ - The Verge, "Google is seeing 'lower monetization' in AI Mode ads" (Oct 29, 2026): https://www.theverge.com/tech/1022301/google-is-seeing-lower-monetization-in-ai-mode-ads - BrightLocal, "Nearly Half of Consumers are Asking AI for Business Recommendations", Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (Mar 10, 2026): https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/ ## Questions ### Do I need an AEO strategy? If new customers find you through search, yes. 45% of US consumers asked AI for local business recommendations in the past year (BrightLocal, 2026), up from 6% the year before, while organic clicks shrink and paid clicks cost more each year. An AEO strategy makes sure AI can read your site, states your facts the way your website does, and names you for the questions customers ask. ### Where does an AEO strategy start? With a baseline: what AI models say today when a customer asks about your kind of business. Are you named, are your facts right or does AI contradict your website, and which competitors get named instead. Without that, you can't tell which fixes matter or whether they worked. ### Did AI Overviews make Google Ads clicks more expensive? Nobody has shown that directly. Google's own filings say cost per click moves with advertiser spending, product and policy changes, device mix and other factors. Agencies point to more advertisers in each auction and to Google's AI-driven campaign types. What is well measured is that AI Overviews cut organic clicks. ### How much does a Google Ads click cost in 2026? WordStream by LocaliQ puts the 2026 average at $5.42 across 13,474 US search campaigns (April 2025 to March 2026), from $2.05 for restaurants to $9.87 for attorneys. Your own account is the number that matters. ### Does Preferly check Google AI Overviews? Not yet. Preferly asks 10 leading AI models through their APIs, including Gemini. Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot aren't covered yet. The site fixes it suggests are the same basics those tools read. ## Sources - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000084/goog-20260930.htm - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm - https://www.wordstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ws-guide-2026-google-ads-benchmarks.pdf - https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2025-google-ads-benchmarks - https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/418796/google-search-ad-buys-becoming-more-expensive.html - https://digiday.com/media-buying/cpc-pain-is-real-one-year-on-googles-ai-max-has-pushed-up-search-budgets-and-costs/ - https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/ - https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks-update/ - https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/ - https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/aio-impact-on-google-ctr-2026-update - https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/ads-in-ai-mode-global/ - https://www.theverge.com/tech/1022301/google-is-seeing-lower-monetization-in-ai-mode-ads - https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/ --- # 40% of small business sites run behind Cloudflare. Are they more or less open to AI? > 1,481 of 3,693 small business sites we checked were behind Cloudflare. They saw more bot checks but far fewer broken homepages, and ended up more open to AI. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/cloudflare-small-business-ai-crawlers Published: 2026-11-04 Last updated: 2026-11-04 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** 1,481 of the 3,693 small business sites we checked (40.1%) were behind Cloudflare. They were more likely to show a bot check, but much less likely to have a broken homepage, so overall more of them were open to AI crawlers: 88.2%, against 84.0% for sites not on Cloudflare. ## Side by side | Result | Behind Cloudflare (1,481) | Not on Cloudflare (2,212) | |---|---|---| | Open to AI crawlers | 1,306 (88.2%) | 1,857 (84.0%) | | Bot check | 112 (7.6%) | 104 (4.7%) | | Homepage didn't load | 9 (0.6%) | 174 (7.9%) | | Blocks some AI crawlers | 44 (3.0%) | 42 (1.9%) | | Blocks all major AI crawlers | 2 (0.1%) | 27 (1.2%) | | robots.txt unreadable | 8 (0.5%) | 8 (0.4%) | ## What's going on - **More bot checks.** Cloudflare's bot protection is the single most common source of bot checks in our study. A setting meant to stop scrapers also stops some honest crawlers. - **Far fewer broken homepages.** Cloudflare handles HTTPS certificates for the sites it fronts, so the certificate errors that took down 140 homepages elsewhere barely show up. - **Partial blocks, not total ones.** Cloudflare sites were more likely to block some AI crawlers and much less likely to block all of them. 30 sites carried Cloudflare's managed robots.txt section, which adds AI-crawler rules for you. ## What to check in your Cloudflare dashboard 1. Security settings: is "Bot Fight Mode" or a challenge for AI bots turned on? 2. AI crawler controls: is "block AI bots" or the managed robots.txt on, and is that what you want? 3. Then run the [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check) to see what an identified crawler gets. Our guide [Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers?](https://www.preferly.ai/is-cloudflare-blocking-ai-crawlers) has the step by step. Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ ## Questions ### Does Cloudflare block AI crawlers by default? Cloudflare offers settings that block or challenge AI crawlers, and their defaults have changed over time. In our sample, 112 Cloudflare sites (7.6%) showed a bot check and 30 had Cloudflare's managed AI rules in robots.txt. Check your own dashboard. ### Should I stop using Cloudflare? No. In our data Cloudflare sites were more open to AI overall, mostly because their HTTPS worked. Adjust the bot settings instead. --- # We checked 9 website builders for AI crawler access. Hosted builders were almost always open > Of small business sites whose homepage loaded, every Wix, Shopify, GoDaddy and Weebly site was open to AI crawlers. Where WordPress and Squarespace got stuck. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/website-builders-ai-crawler-access Published: 2026-11-03 Last updated: 2026-11-03 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** among the 3,319 small business sites where we could tell the builder, hosted builders were almost always open to AI crawlers. Every Wix, Shopify, GoDaddy and Weebly site in the sample was. Where sites got stuck, it was usually a custom setup or a security setting. ## Open to AI crawlers, by builder | Builder | Open | Share | |---|---|---| | Wix | 233 of 233 | 100% | | Shopify | 184 of 184 | 100% | | GoDaddy | 153 of 153 | 100% | | Weebly | 80 of 80 | 100% | | Duda | 97 of 98 | 99.0% | | Webflow | 52 of 53 | 98.1% | | WordPress | 1,000 of 1,021 | 97.9% | | Squarespace | 365 of 378 | 96.6% | | Other or unknown | 967 of 1,119 | 86.4% | One caution before reading too much into this: we could only tell the builder when the homepage loaded. Sites that failed on HTTPS or showed a full-page bot check mostly ended up as "unknown", so this table says how open each builder is once a page loads, not how often each one fails to load. ## Where the exceptions were - **Squarespace:** 9 sites blocked all major AI crawlers and 4 blocked some. Squarespace offers a setting to block AI crawlers, and these look like that setting turned on. - **WordPress:** 16 sites blocked some AI crawlers in robots.txt, and 2 showed a bot check. - **Other or unknown:** 100 bot checks (most of them SiteGround's) and 51 sites blocking some AI crawlers. ## A quieter difference: robots.txt Most builders publish a robots.txt for you. Webflow sites were the exception: 33 of 53 had none. That isn't a problem on its own, since no robots.txt means crawlers may read everything. It just means there's nowhere to set rules if you ever want to. ## What to check If you're on a hosted builder, look for an "AI crawlers" or "block AI" setting in its SEO or privacy section and decide whether you want it. If you're on WordPress, ask your host about bot protection, and check your robots.txt. The [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check) covers both. Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ ## Questions ### Is my Wix or Squarespace site blocking ChatGPT? In our sample, almost never by default. Squarespace has a setting that blocks AI crawlers; 9 of 378 Squarespace sites blocked all of them, which suggests that setting was on. Check yours to be sure. ### Why do WordPress sites get stuck more? WordPress runs on hosts you choose, with plugins and security settings you or your host add. Some of those block or challenge crawlers. --- # 44% of small business homepages have no structured data. What that means for AI answers > 1,453 of 3,283 small business homepages we loaded had no valid JSON-LD. The share by website builder and business type, and the one block worth adding. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/small-business-structured-data-statistics Published: 2026-11-02 Last updated: 2026-11-02 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** 1,453 of the 3,283 small business homepages we loaded (44.3%) had no valid JSON-LD structured data. The other 1,830 (55.7%) had at least one valid block. Which website builder you use made a bigger difference than what kind of business you run. JSON-LD is a small block of code on a page that states facts in a format software reads directly: this is a dentist, here's the address, these are the hours. AI tools can read your page without it, but they have to infer those facts from the text. ## By website builder Homepages that loaded without a bot check: | Builder | With valid JSON-LD | Share | |---|---|---| | Squarespace | 277 of 368 | 75.3% | | Wix | 145 of 214 | 67.8% | | Shopify | 124 of 184 | 67.4% | | WordPress | 680 of 1,014 | 67.1% | | Duda | 56 of 98 | 57.1% | | Webflow | 29 of 53 | 54.7% | | GoDaddy | 80 of 153 | 52.3% | | Other or unknown | 434 of 1,019 | 42.6% | | Weebly | 5 of 80 | 6.2% | Several builders add some structured data for you. We only checked that a valid block exists, not what's in it, so check that yours includes your hours and address. ## By type of business Lawyers (149 of 206, 72.3%), dentists (174 of 242, 71.9%) and home services (146 of 208, 70.2%) were the most likely to have it. Accounting, insurance and finance (83 of 177, 46.9%), real estate (63 of 134, 47.0%) and hair, beauty and tattoo (120 of 251, 47.8%) were the least. ## What to do 1. Run the [free business schema checker](https://www.preferly.ai/tools/business-schema-checker) on your homepage. 2. If you have nothing, or only a site name, add a LocalBusiness block with name, address, phone, hours and website. Our [schema guide](https://www.preferly.ai/schema-markup-for-ai-search) has a template. For the markup that fits your kind of business, see [how restaurants show up in AI search](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-restaurants) or [AI search for dental practices](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-dentists). 3. Make sure the hours in the block match the hours on the page and on your Google profile. When those disagree, AI may pick the wrong one. Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ "Valid JSON-LD" means at least one block that parsed; we didn't grade how complete it was. ## Questions ### Does structured data make AI recommend me? Nobody can promise that. It makes your basic facts (name, address, hours, phone) easy for software to read without guessing, which helps AI repeat them correctly. ### What kind of structured data should a local business add? A LocalBusiness block (or a more specific type such as Dentist or Restaurant) on the homepage with your name, address, phone, hours and website. --- # 72 small business sites block GPTBot but let ChatGPT search in. How the split works > 2.1% of small business sites we checked block OpenAI's training crawler while allowing its search crawler. What each one does and how to set the same split. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/gptbot-vs-oai-searchbot Published: 2026-10-31 Last updated: 2026-10-31 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** 72 of the 3,370 small business sites with a readable robots.txt in [our AI crawler study](https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study) (2.1%) block GPTBot, OpenAI's training crawler, while still allowing OAI-SearchBot, the crawler ChatGPT search uses. That's the setup OpenAI documents for opting out of training without disappearing from ChatGPT search. ## Two crawlers, two jobs - **GPTBot** collects pages that may be used to train future models. Blocked by 105 sites (3.1%). - **OAI-SearchBot** indexes pages so ChatGPT can show them in search answers. Blocked by 34 sites (1.0%). - **ChatGPT-User** fetches a page when a user's question needs it right then. Blocked by 33 sites (1.0%). So most sites that block GPTBot (72 of 105) leave the search crawler alone. Whether that was a deliberate choice or a default from a plugin or a host setting, the result is the same: they're out of training but still reachable for answers. ## The same split for other AI companies | Company | Training crawler (blocked by) | Search or user crawler (blocked by) | |---|---|---| | Anthropic | ClaudeBot (96, 2.8%) | Claude-SearchBot (32, 0.9%), Claude-User (43, 1.3%) | | Perplexity | none separate | PerplexityBot (42, 1.2%), Perplexity-User (33, 1.0%) | | Google | Google-Extended (79, 2.3%) | Googlebot (not affected by Google-Extended) | ## How to set it up In robots.txt: ``` User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: / User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Allow: / ``` Then check it with the [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check). Our guide to [allowing AI crawlers in robots.txt](https://www.preferly.ai/allow-ai-crawlers-in-robots-txt) has the full list of names. Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ ## Questions ### If I block GPTBot, can ChatGPT still recommend me? It can still find you through search if OAI-SearchBot is allowed. OpenAI documents the two separately for that reason. ### Does the same split work for Claude and Gemini? Similar splits exist. Anthropic lists ClaudeBot (training) separately from Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User. Google-Extended controls Gemini training without affecting Google Search. --- # 140 small business homepages failed on HTTPS alone. A broken certificate can hide you from AI > 183 of the 3,693 small business homepages we checked didn't load, and 140 of those were certificate or TLS errors. Why AI tools skip them, and the quick fix. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/broken-https-hides-sites-from-ai Published: 2026-10-30 Last updated: 2026-10-30 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** 183 of the 3,693 small business homepages we checked (5.0%) didn't load at all, and 140 of those (3.8% of all sites) failed because of an HTTPS certificate or TLS error. An AI tool that can't open your homepage can't quote it. ## What went wrong | Why the homepage didn't load | Sites | |---|---| | HTTPS certificate or TLS error | 140 | | HTTP error (the server returned an error page) | 33 | | Redirect loop | 6 | | Other | 4 | The certificate errors were mostly the boring kind: a certificate issued for a different name than the one the site uses (for example, it covers www but not the bare domain), or one that simply expired. ## Why AI tools don't push through When your browser hits a bad certificate, it shows a warning and lets you click "continue anyway." Crawlers don't click. They treat the page as unreachable and move on to other sources about you, like directories and review sites, which may be out of date. ## Which businesses had it most Real estate (16 of 162, 9.9%) and hotels (19 of 202, 9.4%) had the highest share of homepages that didn't load. Vets and pet services had the lowest (6 of 207, 2.9%). Sites behind Cloudflare almost never had this problem: 9 of 1,481 (0.6%), against 174 of 2,212 (7.9%) for everything else. Cloudflare issues and renews certificates for the sites it fronts, which takes this failure off the table. ## The 5-minute check 1. Type your domain both ways, with and without "www", in a private browser window. 2. If either shows a warning, send your host a screenshot and ask them to fix the certificate for both names. 3. Run the [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check). It tells you if your homepage loads for an identified crawler. Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ Sites that didn't respond at all, or redirected to plain http, were excluded from the 3,693, so the real failure rate is likely a bit higher. ## Questions ### My site loads fine for me. Could it still have a certificate problem? Yes. Some browsers fill in a missing certificate piece or remember an old exception. A crawler does a strict check, so it can fail where your browser didn't. ### Who fixes a certificate error? Usually your host or whoever set up your domain. Many hosts renew certificates for free; the problem is often a domain that points somewhere the certificate doesn't cover. --- # Only 3.2% of small business sites block AI crawlers in robots.txt. Here's who they block > Of 3,370 small business sites with a readable robots.txt, 109 block at least one major AI crawler and 29 block all of them. The crawlers they name most. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/how-many-small-business-sites-block-ai-crawlers Published: 2026-10-30 Last updated: 2026-10-30 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** deliberate blocking is rare. Of the 3,370 small business sites where we could read robots.txt, 109 (3.2%) block at least one of the nine major AI crawlers from the homepage, and 29 (0.9%) block all nine. ## The crawlers that get blocked most Share of the 3,370 sites with a readable robots.txt: | Crawler | Who runs it | What it does | Sites blocking | Share | |---|---|---|---|---| | Meta-ExternalAgent | Meta | Training | 107 | 3.2% | | GPTBot | OpenAI | Training | 105 | 3.1% | | Applebot-Extended | Apple | Training | 97 | 2.9% | | ClaudeBot | Anthropic | Training | 96 | 2.8% | | Google-Extended | Google | Training (Gemini) | 79 | 2.3% | | Claude-User | Anthropic | Fetches pages for a user | 43 | 1.3% | | PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Search index | 42 | 1.2% | | OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | ChatGPT search | 34 | 1.0% | | ChatGPT-User | OpenAI | Fetches pages for a user | 33 | 1.0% | | Claude-SearchBot | Anthropic | Search | 32 | 0.9% | The pattern is clear: training crawlers get blocked about three times as often as the crawlers that fetch pages for live answers. ## Most blocks name AI crawlers on purpose When a site blocks, it's usually with rules that name specific AI crawlers, not a blanket "no bots" rule: about 83% of blocking sites did it that way. Only 1.2% of readable robots.txt files had a wildcard rule that blocks every crawler from the homepage. ## Is blocking the right call for you? For most local businesses, being found matters more than keeping your text out of training data. If you do want to opt out of training, you can block the training crawlers and still let the search and user crawlers in, so AI can look you up when a customer asks. Our guide to [whether to block AI crawlers](https://www.preferly.ai/should-i-block-ai-crawlers) goes through the trade-off, and [this one](https://www.preferly.ai/allow-ai-crawlers-in-robots-txt) has the exact lines. How much this matters depends on your trade; we have an [AI search guide for home services](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-home-services), an [AI search guide for lawyers](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-lawyers) and an [AI search guide for auto repair shops](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-search-for-auto-repair-shops). Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ ## Questions ### Does having no robots.txt block AI? No. With no robots.txt, crawlers treat everything as allowed. 433 of the sites we read (12.8%) had none, and that's fine. ### What's Cloudflare's managed robots.txt? A Cloudflare setting that adds AI-crawler rules to your robots.txt for you. 30 sites in our sample had it, and they made up about a quarter of the sites that block any AI crawler. --- # 216 small business sites showed our crawler a bot check. Here's why that hides you from AI > 5.8% of the 3,693 small business websites we checked showed an identified crawler a bot check instead of the homepage. Who causes it and what to ask your host. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/bot-checks-hide-small-business-sites-from-ai Published: 2026-10-29 Last updated: 2026-10-29 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** 216 of the 3,693 small business websites we checked (5.8%) showed our crawler a bot check instead of the homepage. That's more than the 115 sites (3.1%) that block AI crawlers on purpose in robots.txt. Two vendors account for almost all of them. ## Who showed the bot checks | Vendor | Sites | Share of all 3,693 | |---|---|---| | Cloudflare | 112 | 3.0% | | SiteGround | 99 | 2.7% | | Akamai | 3 | 0.1% | | AWS WAF | 2 | 0.1% | Our crawler, PreferlyBot, says who it is in every request and follows robots.txt. It still got stopped, because a bot check doesn't read robots.txt. It looks at the visitor and decides whether it seems human. ## Why this is easy to miss From your side, nothing looks wrong. You open your site in a browser, it loads, customers book. The check only shows up for automated visitors, and AI tools fetching a page to answer a question are automated visitors. SiteGround's check is especially quiet. It sends back a tiny page with a success code that redirects to a captcha. To a simple tool that looks like "the page loaded," which is why a simple check can report these sites as fine. ## Which kinds of business hit it most Restaurants and bars had the highest rate in our sample (33 of 342, 9.6%), followed by lawyers (22 of 243, 9.1%), hotels (18 of 202, 8.9%) and dentists (24 of 287, 8.4%). Vets and pet services had the lowest (4 of 207, 1.9%). ## What to ask your host or web person - "Is there a bot check, captcha or 'bot fight mode' on our site?" - "Does it let verified bots through, including AI crawlers like GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot?" - "Can we allow those while keeping protection on for everything else?" Then run the [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check) again to confirm. If you use Cloudflare, our page on [whether Cloudflare is blocking AI crawlers](https://www.preferly.ai/is-cloudflare-blocking-ai-crawlers) walks through the settings. Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ A bot check is what a new, clearly identified crawler sees. Large AI crawlers may be treated differently by some vendors. ## Questions ### Is a bot check the same as blocking AI in robots.txt? No. robots.txt is a public rule that well-behaved crawlers read and follow. A bot check is a page your host or security service shows instead of your content. It can stop crawlers you never meant to block. ### Should I turn bot protection off? Not necessarily. It protects against real abuse. Ask your host whether it can let verified AI crawlers and search bots through while still stopping the rest. --- # 1 in 7 small business websites aren't fully open to AI. Is yours one of them? > We checked 3,693 small business websites. 530 weren't fully open to AI crawlers, and most of those owners never chose that. Here's what got in the way. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/blog/small-business-websites-not-open-to-ai Published: 2026-10-29 Last updated: 2026-10-29 By the Preferly team **Short answer:** about 1 in 7. We checked 3,693 small business websites in 26 US cities, and 530 of them (14.4%) weren't fully open to AI crawlers. Only 115 of those had a rule in robots.txt aimed at AI. The rest were bot checks, homepages that didn't load, and robots.txt files we couldn't read. That's the part that surprised us. When people talk about websites "blocking AI," they usually mean a deliberate choice, a line in robots.txt that says no to GPTBot or ClaudeBot. That exists, but it's the smallest piece. ## Where the 530 sites got stuck | What happened | Sites | Share of all 3,693 | |---|---|---| | Bot check shown to our crawler | 216 | 5.8% | | Homepage didn't load | 183 | 5.0% | | robots.txt blocks some AI crawlers | 86 | 2.3% | | robots.txt blocks all major AI crawlers | 29 | 0.8% | | robots.txt couldn't be read | 16 | 0.4% | Each site is counted once. The other 3,163 (85.6%) were open: robots.txt allowed AI crawlers, the homepage loaded, and nothing asked us to prove we were human. ## Most of these owners didn't decide anything A robots.txt rule is a decision someone made, even if it was a while ago. The other four rows usually aren't. - **Bot checks** come from hosting and security settings. Cloudflare showed one on 112 sites and SiteGround on 99. Often the owner never turned them on themselves. - **Homepages that didn't load** were mostly broken HTTPS: 140 of the 183 had a certificate or TLS error. A browser shows a warning page. A crawler just leaves. - **Unreadable robots.txt files** returned an error or something that wasn't a robots.txt. Put together, 415 of the 530 sites (78%) weren't fully open for reasons that have nothing to do with a choice about AI. ## Why it matters When someone asks ChatGPT or Gemini for "a dentist near me who takes my insurance," the model may look your site up live. If it hits a bot check or a certificate error, it answers from whatever else it can find: an old directory listing, a review site, a competitor's page. Your own words don't make it in. ## What to check this week 1. Open your site in a private browser window. If you see a certificate warning, call whoever hosts it. That fix is usually quick. 2. Ask your host or web person whether a bot check or "bot fight" setting is on, and whether it lets known AI crawlers through. 3. Look at yoursite.com/robots.txt. If you see "Disallow: /" under GPTBot, ClaudeBot or similar, decide whether you still want it. 4. Run the [free AI crawler check](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-crawler-check) to see which group your site falls into. Being readable is the first step. To see whether AI actually names your business, who it names instead and where it contradicts your website, get the [full $99 AI visibility audit](https://www.preferly.ai/ai-visibility-audit), paid once. _Data: Preferly, "How many small business websites block AI crawlers?" (2026), https://www.preferly.ai/research/ai-crawler-study. We checked 4,111 small and local business websites in 26 US cities on Oct 22, 2026 and analyzed the 3,693 that responded. The aggregate data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit._ ## Questions ### Does a bot check really stop AI tools? It can. A bot check asks the visitor to prove it's a person. An AI tool fetching your page for an answer usually can't, so it gets the check page instead of your content. ### How do I know which group my site is in? Run the free AI crawler check. It reads your robots.txt and homepage the way an identified crawler does and tells you which of these results you get. --- # Privacy policy > What Preferly collects, why, who it's shared with, how long it's kept, and your rights. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/privacy Last updated: 9 November 2026. ## Who we are Preferly ([https://www.preferly.ai](https://www.preferly.ai)) is run by Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC, a company in Puerto Rico ("we", "us"). Preferly asks AI models how they describe and recommend a business, and shows the result to the business owner. Questions about this policy: [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai). ## What this policy covers This policy covers preferly.ai, the free check, the paid full report, our creator program, and our crawler, PreferlyBot. It explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what rights you have. ## What we collect ### What you type in - **Your email address and name**, when you buy a full report, or when you choose to give your email on the free check (it's optional). - **Business details**: the business name, website and location (city or region). - **For direct purchases**, the details you type to find your business, and the business you pick from our list of candidates. ### What we create when you use the service - **Check sessions.** One record per started free check: the business details; a site key (the website's domain, or the business name and location when there is no website), so we can limit one free check per website; your email and a normalized copy of it (lowercased, "+tags" removed, Gmail dots ignored), only if you give it; timestamps; the state of the run; and whether and when we emailed you the report. - **Leads.** Only if you give us your email: your email, name and website, whether you ticked the box asking for product updates (`marketing_ok`), and whether you opened the free report from our email (the report page tells us when it was opened from the email's link). - **Hashed browser identifier.** We store a SHA-256 hash of your browser's User-Agent header, so we can spot bot bursts. We do not keep the header itself. - **Orders.** For the $99 report: your email, the amount and currency, our order status, the Stripe checkout session id and payment intent id, and a hash of your private report link. We never see or store your card number. Stripe handles it. - **Run results.** The result of each check: public information about the business (from its public website and, for local businesses, its public Google Business Profile), the questions we asked the AI models, their full answers, the competitors they named, the pages we fetched from the website, our scores and fixes, and timing and cost figures. We do not copy your email into the run itself; runs are linked to your order or check session by internal ids. - **Emails we send you.** Your free report, if you give us your email (score, top finding and a private link to the report), and for a full report, the report link and any refund notice. We send them through Resend. We don't send codes. - **Where you came from.** If you arrive from a campaign link or another website, we note the campaign tags, the referring site's host name and the page you landed on, and save that with your check, lookup or order (see "Analytics"). - **Creator referrals.** If you arrive through a creator's link, we save PromoteKit's referral id (from the `promotekit_referral` cookie) with your check, lookup or order, so the creator is credited and you get their discount (see "Cookies"). - **Free AI crawler check.** When you use the free AI crawler check, we store the domain you checked and a one-way hash of your IP address for 7 days, to limit abuse. We don't store the result. - **Preferly in ChatGPT.** When you ask Preferly to check a website inside ChatGPT, ChatGPT sends us the website address and an anonymized user ID that OpenAI creates so apps can limit abuse. We run the same public check as our free AI crawler check and send the result back to ChatGPT. We store the domain checked and a one-way hash of that anonymized ID for 7 days, to limit abuse. We don't store the result. ChatGPT may also send your language setting and an approximate location; we don't use or store them. How ChatGPT handles your conversation, including the result we return, is covered by OpenAI's terms and privacy policy. - **Preferly in Gemini and Google Search.** When you ask Preferly to check a website in the Gemini app or Google Search, Google sends us only what the check needs: the website address, and for the quick AI check the business name and city if given. Google doesn't send us your Google account, name or email. We store the domain checked and a one-way hash of the IP address the request came from for 7 days, to count checks and limit abuse, the same as checks from ChatGPT. For the quick AI check we also keep its result (public information about the website) for up to 30 days, so a repeat check can be answered without asking the AI models again. How Google handles your conversation, including the result we return, is covered by Google's terms and privacy policy. - **Creators.** If you join our creator program, you sign up in our provider PromoteKit's creator portal. PromoteKit keeps your creator account: your name and email, the link name and promo code you choose, your answers on the application, your referrals and commissions, and the details you give it to get paid. We see your account, referrals and commissions in PromoteKit's dashboard, and we record your link name (`via`) with the orders you refer. Creators don't see buyers' email addresses. - **Share links.** If you turn on a public link for your full report, anyone with the link can see a summary: your business name and website, your score, how often AI named you, how many competitors were named instead, and the headline findings. If you choose, it also shows up to three competitors' names and up to two examples where AI contradicts your website. Your fix list, code and email address are never on it. You can turn the link off at any time, which breaks it everywhere. Social sites and messaging apps may keep their own copy of a link preview after you turn the link off. - **Links for your web person.** If you make one, anyone with that link can read your full report and download the PDF and AI Fix Pack, but can't re-scan or change your sharing. You can turn it off at any time. - **Gift links.** An eligible full report comes with one gift link that gives one other person a discount. We record which order a gift came from and which order used it, so each gift works once. We tell you that your gift was used and when, never who used it, and we don't tell the person who used it who sent it. - **Share cards.** If you make a share card from your free check, we save a copy of the numbers on it: your business name (unless you hide it), category, score, how often AI named you, how many competitors were named instead, and how many models said they couldn't find you. Anyone with the card's link can see it. You can remove it from your free report page. - **Shared-link visits.** If you open a Preferly link that someone shared, we set the `pf_share` cookie. If you then run a check or buy a report, we record which shared link you came from, for our own analytics. It doesn't change your price, and the person who shared the link doesn't see it. ### What we collect automatically - **IP address.** We read your IP address from request headers to rate-limit starts, runs, report emails and lookups. The limiter lives in server memory only. We do not write IP addresses to our database (the free AI crawler check stores only a one-way hash of yours, see above). We pass your IP to Cloudflare Turnstile with the bot check (see "Who we send data to"). Our host, Vercel, also logs requests, which can include IP addresses, under its own policy. - **Cookies.** See the next section. - **Server logs.** We log errors. Our code logs check ids, not email addresses. ## Cookies We use the cookies below. Two of them, `_fbp` and `_fbc`, are Meta's advertising cookies: they tell us whether our ads on Facebook and Instagram bring visitors (see "Advertising"). They're set only on our public pages. `pf_attr`, `pf_share`, `pf_pv`, `promotekit_referral`, `_fbp` and `_fbc` are optional; you can block them without losing anything except a creator discount. The others are necessary to run the service. | Cookie | What it does | Lifetime | | --- | --- | --- | | `pf_checks` | Necessary. A signed, httpOnly cookie listing the ids of the free checks and runs this browser has started, so you can reopen your free report on this device. It holds ids only, not your email. | Up to 400 days | | `pf_free` | Necessary. A signed, httpOnly cookie with the times this browser ran a free check, so we can limit free checks to two per browser every 30 days. It holds times only. | Up to 400 days | | `ac_report` | Necessary. Lets a buyer's order page show their report link. | Up to 400 days | | `ac_admin` | Staff only. Keeps an administrator signed in to our admin area. Never set for customers. | 7 days | | `pf_attr` | Analytics. Set the first time you arrive from a campaign link or another website. It holds the campaign tags (`utm_*`), ad click ids (`gclid`, `fbclid`, `msclkid`), a creator link's tag (`via`), the referring site's host name, the page you landed on and the time, so we know which channels bring customers. | 30 days | | `promotekit_referral` | Referral. Set by PromoteKit, our creator-program provider, only when you arrive through a creator's link. It holds a referral id so the creator is credited and you get their discount. | Set by the program, up to 60 days | | `pf_gift` | Necessary. Set when you claim a gift link, so checkout applies its discount. It holds the gift link's code. | Until the gift expires, at most 60 days | | `pf_pv` | Analytics. While we test showing a free preview before asking for an email, a random number from 0 to 99 that decides which version of the home page form you see, so the test is fair. | 30 days | | `pf_share` | Analytics. Set when you open a link someone shared (a report summary, a report link for a web person, a gift or a share card). It holds a one-way fingerprint of that link, or the card's id, so we can count what sharing leads to. | 30 days | | `_fbp` | Advertising. Set by Meta's pixel on our public pages. A random id for this browser, so Meta can count visits and free-check starts from people who saw our ads. | 90 days | | `_fbc` | Advertising. Set by Meta's pixel only when you arrive by clicking one of our ads on Facebook or Instagram. It holds Meta's ad click id (`fbclid`). | 90 days | | Cloudflare Turnstile | Necessary. The Turnstile bot check runs on our start forms. Cloudflare may use its own cookie or browser signals to tell people from bots. See Cloudflare's privacy policy. | Set by Cloudflare | ## Analytics We use **Umami Cloud** (Umami Software, Inc.) to count visits and see which pages and steps people use. Umami does not use cookies and does not store your IP address. For each page view or step it records: - the page address, with private report and check addresses masked and only campaign tags kept; - the referring website; - your browser, operating system, device type and country; - steps such as starting a check, giving your email, opening the emailed report, starting checkout or completing a purchase (with the amount paid), sharing a report or card, or opening a shared link. These never include your email, your name, the business name or any id. Umami keeps this data for 6 months. We also keep the campaign details from the `pf_attr` cookie with your check, lookup or order, for as long as we keep that record. To opt out, block cookies for preferly.ai or use a tracker blocker. The service works the same either way. ## Advertising We advertise Preferly on Facebook and Instagram. To see whether those ads work, our public pages (such as the home page, pricing, tools, guides and blog) load the Meta Pixel from Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. in Europe). Pages with your free check, report, order or a shared link don't load it. When the pixel runs, Meta receives: - the address of the page you're on and of the page you came from; - your IP address and browser details, which Meta's code collects itself; - the `_fbp` and `_fbc` cookie ids (see "Cookies"); - that you viewed the page and, if you start a free check from that page, that a check was started. We don't send Meta your name, your email address, the website or business you type in, or any check or report id. We don't use Meta's automatic matching or automatic event features, and we don't upload customer lists to Meta. Meta uses this data to report on and deliver our ads, and also under its own [privacy policy](https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy). If you're logged in to Facebook or Instagram in the same browser, Meta may link these visits to your account. We don't load the pixel for visitors in the EU, the UK or Switzerland, or when your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal. To opt out: - block cookies for preferly.ai, or use a tracker blocker. The site works the same either way; - turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser; - in your Meta account, go to Accounts Center › Ad preferences and turn off ads based on your activity from ad partners ([ad settings](https://accountscenter.facebook.com/ad_preferences)); - opt out of interest-based ads from participating companies at [optout.aboutads.info](https://optout.aboutads.info). ## Who we send data to We use these service providers. Except for Meta (see "Advertising"), each handles data only to provide its service to us. | Provider | Role | What it receives | | --- | --- | --- | | **Vercel** | Hosting and serverless functions | Everything sent to our site, including request logs and IP addresses | | **Neon** | Postgres database | Everything we store, as listed above | | **Stripe** | Payments | Your email (to pre-fill checkout) and your payment details, which you enter on Stripe's page. We get back the session id, payment intent id, amount and status, not your card number. Stripe's own privacy policy covers its use. | | **Resend** | Sends our emails (reports, refund notices) | Your email address and the subject and body of each email | | **Zoho** | Hosts our [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai) mailbox | Anything you email us, and our replies | | **OpenRouter** and the AI model providers it routes to | Run the AI models we ask | See below | | **Nous Portal** (Nous Research, Inc., USA) and the AI model providers it routes to | Run the AI models for the quick AI check and the free preview, at inference-api.nousresearch.com | See below. Never your email | | **Cloudflare** | Turnstile bot check | The Turnstile token and your IP address | | **Umami** | Cookieless website analytics | Page views and steps, as described under "Analytics" | | **Meta** (Meta Platforms, Inc.) | Measures our Facebook and Instagram ads (Meta Pixel), on public pages only | Page addresses, the referring page, IP address, browser details, the `_fbp` and `_fbc` ids, page views and free-check starts, as described under "Advertising". Never your name, email or the website you type in. | | **Google (Places API)** | Looks up a local business's public Google Business Profile (address, phone, hours, rating, categories) to find the right business and check what AI says | The business name and location you typed, or the place in a Google Maps link you paste | | **PromoteKit** | Runs our creator program: the creator portal, link and code tracking, commissions and creator payouts | For buyers: the referral id, and for referred orders the Stripe payment details it reads from our Stripe account. For creators: everything you give it when you sign up and to get paid (see "Creators") | | **OpenAI (ChatGPT)** | Runs the Preferly app inside ChatGPT, when you use it | The result of a check you ask for in ChatGPT (public information about the website you named) | | **Google (Gemini and Google Search)** | Runs Preferly inside the Gemini app and Google Search, when you use it | The result of a check you ask for there (public information about the website you named) | ### What goes to the AI models For the free check and the full report, we send OpenRouter, and through it the companies that run each model: - the business name, website and location; - the questions we ask (for example "who is the best dentist in San Juan?"); - text from the business's public web pages, and the models' own earlier answers, when we ask a model to extract or check claims. For the quick AI check (in AI agents and the ChatGPT app) and the free preview on our home page, we send **Nous Portal** (Nous Research, Inc., USA), and through it the companies that run each model, at its inference API ([https://inference-api.nousresearch.com](https://inference-api.nousresearch.com)). We send the website address submitted for the check (the domain or URL) and the text of the public pages we fetch for that check. The business name we send is the one you give, or the one read from those pages or the domain; a city is included only when you give one or the pages state one. The questions we write from that, and the models' own answers when we ask a model to extract or check claims, go too. The preview asks for no email, and nothing you type there is sent anywhere else. We do **not** send your email address or your own name to OpenRouter, Nous Portal or any model provider. The name you type is used as the business name, so **if the business name is your own personal name (for example a sole trader), it will be sent as a business name.** Please do not enter personal data you would not want sent to AI providers. Model providers have their own terms, and some may keep or use prompts under those terms. AI answers may themselves mention people (for example an owner named on a website). We store those answers as part of the run result. ### Other disclosures We may disclose data if the law requires it, to protect our rights, or in a sale or merger of the business. We do not sell your personal data. The only data that reaches an advertising company is what Meta's pixel collects on our public pages, described under "Advertising". ## Our crawler, PreferlyBot To compare what AI says with what a website says, we fetch public pages of the business's website: robots.txt, the homepage and some of the pages it links to, such as about, contact and pricing. The agent-readiness checks also request up to 25 of the site's own links to find broken ones. For a full report, a test agent also visits the site in a real browser, which runs JavaScript, follows links and clicks only buttons that don't submit anything, to see whether an AI agent could reach the booking, contact or checkout page. Our crawler: - identifies itself with the User-Agent `PreferlyBot/1.0 (+https://preferly.ai/bot)`; - never disguises itself or tries to get past bot protection (if a site challenges it, we report that and stop); - never types, fills in fields, submits forms, books, buys, signs in, accepts cookies or terms, or solves a CAPTCHA; - lets only requests that read a page through (GET, HEAD and OPTIONS) and blocks everything else; - follows robots.txt rules for PreferlyBot when it checks links and runs the browser test; - when configured, signs its requests with Web Bot Auth so sites can verify they come from us. In the browser test, short excerpts of the page text and the list of links it may follow go to an AI model, through OpenRouter, to choose the next link. More at [https://www.preferly.ai/bot](https://www.preferly.ai/bot). ## Why we use your data, and our legal bases If you are in the EU, UK or a similar region, we need a legal basis. In plain terms: | Purpose | Data | Legal basis | | --- | --- | --- | | Run your check, deliver your report (on screen, and by email if you ask) | Email, name, business details, run results | Performing a contract with you, or steps you ask for before one | | Take payment, issue refunds, keep records | Order data | Contract; legal obligation (tax and accounting) | | Limit abuse, rate-limit, keep the service safe and control costs | Hashed User-Agent, IP (transient), the free-check limits (one per website every 30 days, two per browser), a one-way hash of your IP for the free AI crawler check, a one-way hash of the anonymized ID ChatGPT sends | Our legitimate interest in protecting the service | | Support you | Your emails to us | Legitimate interest; contract | | Send occasional product updates, only if you ticked the box | Email, name | Your consent, which you can withdraw any time | | Understand which pages and channels work (analytics, campaign tags) | Page views, steps, campaign details | Our legitimate interest in running and improving the service | | Measure our ads on Facebook and Instagram | Page views, free-check starts and the data listed under "Advertising" | Our legitimate interest in knowing which ads work. We don't load the pixel in the EU, UK or Switzerland. | | Credit the creator who referred you and apply their discount | The referral id, and the order it led to | Our legitimate interest in running our creator program; contract, for the discount | | Run the creator program: review applications, credit referrals, pay commissions | Creator account details, referrals and commissions | Performing a contract with you (the creator program terms); legal obligation, for payment and tax records | | Improve the service and publish anonymized, aggregated statistics | Run results, with business identity removed | Legitimate interest (see our [terms](https://www.preferly.ai/terms)) | | Meet legal duties | As required | Legal obligation | ## Marketing emails The free-check form has a checkbox, "Send me occasional product updates. Unsubscribe anytime." It is unticked unless you tick it, and you can run a check without it. We record whether you ticked it (`marketing_ok`). The direct-purchase form does not ask, and buying a report does not sign you up. We will not send product updates until every one carries a one-click unsubscribe link. You can withdraw your consent at any time: reply to any email from us or write to [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai), and we will record it. Transactional emails (your report, refund notices) are not marketing and still go out when needed. ## How long we keep data We keep data only as long as we need it, then delete it automatically: | Data | How long | | --- | --- | | Check sessions | 13 months | | Leads (email, name, website, whether you ticked the product-updates box) | 24 months after we collect them, or sooner if you ask | | Opt-out record (a one-way coded form of your email, if you unsubscribe or a message to you bounces or is marked as spam) | Indefinitely, so we never email you again | | Free check results | 24 months, unless you bought the full report | | Business lookups for a purchase that wasn't completed | 12 months | | Free AI crawler checks (the domain checked and a one-way hash of your IP address; never the result) | 7 days | | Checks run from ChatGPT (the domain checked and a one-way hash of the anonymized ID ChatGPT sends; never the result) | 7 days | | Checks run from Gemini or Google Search (the domain checked and a one-way hash of the IP address the request came from) | 7 days | | Quick AI check results (public information about the website checked), from AI agents, ChatGPT, Gemini or Google Search | 30 days | | Orders and payment records | 7 years, for tax and accounting | | Creator accounts | Kept by PromoteKit while you are in the program, under its own policy; ask us to close your account at any time. Records of commissions we paid are kept 7 years, for tax and accounting | | Full report results | For as long as we run the service, so your private report link keeps working, or until you ask us to delete them | | Share cards | Until you remove them, or until the free check result they came from is deleted (24 months) | | Gift links and share-link settings | Kept with the order they belong to (7 years, for tax and accounting); a link you turn off stops working at once | | Website analytics (Umami) | 6 months | | Meta pixel data | Kept by Meta under its own policy. The `_fbp` and `_fbc` cookies expire after 90 days. | | Emails you send us | As long as we need them to help you and keep business records | | Server logs | Kept by our host, Vercel, under its own retention policy | Anonymized, aggregated statistics, with no business or person identifiable, may be kept indefinitely. ## Your rights Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR, the UK GDPR or California law), you may have the right to: - **Access** the personal data we hold about you, and get a copy; - **Correct** data that is wrong; - **Delete** your data; - **Object to or restrict** some uses; - **Take your data with you** in a usable format; - **Opt out of marketing** at any time; - **Opt out of the sale or sharing** of your data. We don't sell it. To stop the Meta pixel, use Global Privacy Control, block cookies for preferly.ai, or see "Advertising"; - **Withdraw consent** where we rely on it; - **Not be treated worse** for using these rights; - **Complain** to your data protection authority. To use any of these, email **[hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai)** from the address you used. We may need to confirm it's you. We reply within 30 days. **Managing or deleting your data from ChatGPT, Gemini or Google Search.** We don't know who you are in those apps, so there's no account to manage. To have checks of your website deleted sooner than the times above, email **[hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai)** with the website, and we'll delete them the same way as any other request. Your conversations themselves are managed in ChatGPT or Google's own settings. We may need to keep some data, such as order records for tax purposes. A deletion request removes the rest. If we delete a report, its private link stops working. ## Security Report links are long random tokens, and we store only a hash of them. Our cookies are signed with a secret key. Our admin area needs a single-use sign-in link sent to an approved address. No system is perfectly secure. Anyone who has a report link can read that report. Keep it private. ## International transfers Our providers are mostly in the United States and may process data elsewhere. Nous Research, Inc. processes the quick AI check's inputs in the United States, at its inference API. ## Children Preferly is for businesses and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you think a child has given us data, email [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai) and we will delete it. ## Changes to this policy We will post changes here and update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will tell you by email or on the site. ## Contact Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC 151 Calle de San Francisco, Ste 200 San Juan, PR 00901 Email: [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai) --- # Terms of service > The terms for using Preferly: the free check, the full report, payment, refunds, the re-scan, report links, sharing and gift links, and the creator program. Canonical: https://www.preferly.ai/terms Last updated: 9 November 2026. ## About these terms These terms are between you and Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC, a company in Puerto Rico ("Preferly", "we", "us"). They apply when you use [https://www.preferly.ai](https://www.preferly.ai), the free check, or the full report, and, if you join it, our creator program (see "Creator program"). By using the service you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the service. Our [privacy policy](https://www.preferly.ai/privacy) explains how we handle personal data. ## The service Preferly asks leading AI models how they describe and recommend a business. We show you what they said, how often your business was named, who was named instead, where an AI answer disagrees with your website, whether AI tools can read your site, and suggested fixes. - **Free check.** A shorter check with fewer models and questions. One free check per website every 30 days (the same website with or without "www." or a page path counts once), and two free checks per browser every 30 days. No email is needed; if you give one, we email you the free report. - **Full report.** A larger check with more models and questions, competitor names, full answers, a fix plan and a PDF. See "Payment." We may change, limit or pause either one. The free check has a daily budget, so it can be unavailable. ## What results mean - **A snapshot.** An AI answer is a dated record of what a model said to a question, asked once. Answers vary from run to run, and a repeat check can give a different result. - **API answers approximate the consumer apps.** We ask models through their programming interfaces, with web search on and a neutral instruction. The consumer apps (for example the ChatGPT app) add their own instructions, personalization and memory, so people using the apps may see different answers. - **No guarantee of results.** We do not guarantee any ranking, or that any AI will recommend your business, before or after you follow a fix. Scores and fixes are information and suggestions, not promises of results. - **Backup models.** If a model is unavailable, a backup may stand in, and the report says so. - **AI agents.** Results from AI agents are not part of the report yet. ### Accuracy findings When a report says an AI answer "contradicts" your website, it means the AI and the website disagree. It is **not** a judgement about which one is right. Your website might be out of date, or the AI might be. You decide. ## Using Preferly You agree that: - you will only check a business you are authorized to check, or a business that is public (one anyone can look up); - the information you give us is accurate, and you are allowed to give it; - you will not misuse the service, including by running automated requests, scraping our service, getting around the one-free-check limit, rate limits or bot checks, or interfering with how it works; - you will not use results to harass, mislead or defame anyone; - you will keep your report link private (see "Report links"). If you make a share card from your free check, anyone with its link can see it. Only share a result for a business you run or are allowed to speak for. We may refuse or stop service if we think these terms are being broken. ## Payment The full report costs **$99 USD, one time**. There is no subscription. Stripe takes the payment. We never see or store your card number. Prices may change for future purchases. Discounts from promotion codes or creator links are shown before you pay. Prices don't include taxes; we add them where the law requires. After payment, the report usually takes about 5 minutes. We email you a private link and a PDF link. Delivery times are estimates, not promises. ## Refunds If your report finds no fixes, email us within 7 days and we'll give you a full refund. If the report can't be produced because too many AI models stay unavailable, you get a full refund automatically. We keep retrying for about two hours first. Every other refund request is handled case by case. To ask, email [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai) with your order or business name. Refunds go back to the original payment method and can take 5 to 10 days to arrive. A full refund turns off your report link (see "Report links"). ## The free 30-day re-scan Each full report comes with **one** free re-scan, available for 30 days after the report was made. It asks the same questions of the same models, so you can compare before and after. If an attempt fails, you can try again, up to 3 attempts in all. A re-scan is not a refund and is not repeated. Because AI answers vary, small changes can be normal variation. ## Report links Your full report is at a private link that we email to you. **Anyone who has the link can read the report.** Do not share it unless you mean to. The link does not expire. A **full refund** turns the link off. A partial refund does not. If you think the link has leaked, email [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai). You can also turn on a **public summary link**, which shows your score and headline findings but not your fixes or code, and make a separate **link for your web person**, which opens the full report read-only. Anyone who has either link can see what it shows. You choose who to send them to. You can turn either link off at any time on your report page; turning one off breaks it everywhere. A **full refund** also turns them off. Your free report opens in the browser that started the check and, if you give us your email, at the link we email you. **Anyone who has that link can open the free report.** Keep it private too. ## Gift links - **What you get.** Each full report paid at the full price or with a 20% discount comes with one gift link. Reports bought with a deeper discount or for free don't. - **What it gives.** The person you send it to gets 20% off one full report. It works once. - **Rules.** A gift link can't be combined with any other discount or promo code, has no cash value, and expires 60 days after it's issued. You can't use your own gift link. We may turn off a gift link that is being misused. - **Not the creator program.** Gift links don't earn a commission. To earn one, join the creator program (see "Creator program"). - **If an order is refunded.** If your own order is fully refunded, its unused gift link stops working. If an order that used a gift is refunded, the gift is not given back. ## Your data and our use of anonymized results - **You own your business data.** The business information you give us, and the report we make for you, are yours to use. We do not claim ownership of them. - **We own our software, methods, scores and site.** Do not copy them. - **Agencies.** If you run a check for a client, you may share the report with that client. Reselling Preferly reports as your own product needs our written permission. - **Permission to run the service.** You allow us to process your inputs to run the checks and deliver the report. - **Anonymized examples and statistics.** We may use results from checks with every business and person renamed, as examples (like the one at [https://www.preferly.ai/example](https://www.preferly.ai/example)), and combine results into statistics (for example, "X% of businesses appear in zero AI answers"). We do not publish a customer's name, domain or competitors' names without permission. To opt out, email [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai). ## Creator program These terms also apply if you join the Preferly creator program. In this section, "you" means the creator. - **Joining.** You apply through our creator portal at [https://preferly.promotekit.com](https://preferly.promotekit.com). Joining needs our approval. We review every application and may accept or decline any of them. We may remove a creator from the program, for example if we think these terms are being broken. - **Your link and code.** When you sign up, you choose a link name and a promo code. Your link has the form `https://www.preferly.ai/?via=yourname`. Add nothing to it except `utm_` tags; other parameters can stop a sale from being credited to you. - **What your audience gets.** A buyer who arrives through your link, or enters your code at checkout, gets 20% off the full report. - **What you earn.** $20 USD for each buyer you refer, on that buyer's first full report purchase only. A buyer's later purchases don't earn a commission. - **Who gets the credit.** A referral lasts 60 days from the click on your link. If a buyer clicked more than one creator's link, the first link they clicked gets the credit. Link tracking uses a cookie in the buyer's browser, so a buyer who blocks or clears cookies may not be credited to you; a buyer who enters your code at checkout still is. - **Payment.** Commissions are paid on a Net-30 schedule once you are owed at least $20 USD. - **Refunds and chargebacks.** If an order you referred is refunded or charged back, its commission is reversed. - **Buying for yourself.** You may buy through your own link or code. You get the discount and, on your first full report purchase, the commission. - **How you promote Preferly.** You agree to: - disclose that you are paid, clearly and in the content itself, every time, for example "Paid partnership with Preferly", "Ad" or "#PreferlyPartner". In video, say it and show it on screen. A free report counts as payment too; - describe only what you saw in a report, and make no misleading claims. Preferly does not promise rankings, traffic or sales, so do not promise them either; - follow the rules on how to talk about Preferly at [https://www.preferly.ai/refer](https://www.preferly.ai/refer); - not send spam, including bulk or unsolicited email or messages, on Preferly's behalf; - not bid on "Preferly" as a keyword in paid search ads; - not post your code on coupon or deal sites; - not suggest that you work for Preferly or speak for it; - follow the law and the rules of each platform you post on. - **If these rules are broken.** We may withhold the commissions involved and remove you from the program. - **PromoteKit.** PromoteKit, our creator program provider, runs the creator portal, tracks links and codes, and makes payouts. Its own terms and privacy policy also apply to your account with it. - **You are independent.** You take part as an independent creator, not as our employee, agent or partner. - **Changes and ending the program.** We may change the program, including what you earn, or end it. We will give notice by email or in the creator portal before a change takes effect. ## Third-party services and content Results come from third-party AI models and public websites. We do not control them and are not responsible for what they say. Links to other sites are not endorsements. ## Our crawler To compare what AI says with what a website says, our crawler, PreferlyBot, fetches public pages of the business's website only when someone requests a check: robots.txt, the homepage and some of the pages it links to, and up to 25 of the site's own links to find broken ones. For a full report, a test agent also visits the site in a real browser, which runs JavaScript, follows links and clicks only buttons that don't submit anything. The link checks and the browser test follow the site's robots.txt rules for PreferlyBot. PreferlyBot always identifies itself, never gets around bot protection, and never types, fills in fields, submits forms, books, buys or signs in. See [https://www.preferly.ai/bot](https://www.preferly.ai/bot). ## Disclaimers The service is provided "as is" and "as available." To the extent the law allows, we make no warranty, express or implied, including about accuracy, merchantability, fitness for a purpose, non-infringement, or uninterrupted service. AI output can be wrong, incomplete or out of date. You are responsible for decisions you make using it. ## Limit of liability To the extent the law allows: - we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill; and - our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid for the order the claim relates to (for the free check, $0). Some places don't allow these limits, so they may not apply to you. ## Ending your use You can stop using Preferly at any time. We can suspend or end your access if you break these terms. Terms that by nature should survive (ownership, disclaimers, liability, governing law) do. ## Governing law and disputes These terms are governed by the laws of Puerto Rico and the applicable federal law of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute goes to the courts in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Nothing here limits mandatory consumer rights where you live. ## Changes to these terms We may update these terms. We will post the new version here with a new date. If a change is significant, we will tell you by email or on the site. Using the service after a change means you accept it. Changes do not apply to a purchase already made. ## Contact Avant Tech Solutions PR LLC 151 Calle de San Francisco, Ste 200 San Juan, PR 00901 Email: [hello@preferly.ai](mailto:hello@preferly.ai)